Too Much
by booyahbecky
Summary: Ruby Gaskarth's world is turned upside down, when she realises she's fallen for her brothers best friend; Jack Barakat. After accepting their offer to go to Warped, how will she cope with tour life, and falling in love? ALL TIME LOW  FAN-FIC.
1. Betrayal Makes The World Spin 'Round

Chapter One

'Alexander William Gaskarth, you better not me kidding me on right now.' I warned, pointing my finger at him as I sat at the breakfast bar. He smiled innocently at me and held his hands up, palms facing me.

'Honest, I'm not!' he said, innocence lacing in his voice. I let the feeling sink in, oh my god. I'm going to the Warped Tour! Excitement built in my stomach and I launched myself at my brother.

'You're the best brother ever!' I yelled, hugging him fiercely. He chuckled, hugging me back and grinning widely. 'I can't believe I'm going!' I was totally shocked; this was the first time I would actually get to tour with the band! I hadn't thought Alex would have wanted me cramping his style, me being his younger sister and all, but apparently I was wrong. Because I'm going to the fucking Warped Tour!

This was my first year going. Last year I had been tied up with school exams and senior year, and couldn't go, but this year I was taking a gap year between high school and college, and was ready to do some crazy shit. Mum and Dad had gone back to England for the summer, so I was free to do whatever I wanted.

'What do the rest of the guys think?' I asked I was kinda nervous. I didn't want to go uninvited.

'They're as excited as you.' Alex answered, returning to his massive bowl of cereal. 'They're coming round for practice in about an hour.' He said his mouth full of coco snaps. I skipped happily up to my room.

I got into my room, stepping over the mountains of clothes littered everywhere and made my way to my massive wardrobe. Seriously, I didn't even know why I had a wardrobe; all my clothes didn't even fit in it.

I chose my Mayday Parade tee and black shorts for the day, with my black florally tights. It was only the band coming round after all. I left my hair naturally curly, and didn't put my make up on for a change, before bouncing downstairs to watch Cribs. Some of the houses on this show were unreal.

The front door slammed open and I heard a cry of 'RUBY-BEAR' before the breath was knocked out of me as Jack landed on top of me.

'Get your fat butt off of me, Barakat!' I yelled trying to push Jack off as he began to tickle me and I started to giggle helplessly. It was useless, he would win this. He repeatedly tickled me until I was red in the face, and rolling around like a mad woman in fits of laughter.

'Say, Jack Barakat is the sexiest mother-fucker alive.' He insisted, still tickling me.

'Jack Barakat is the sexiest mother-fucker alive.' I wheezed, trying to get my breath back, a wide smile on my face. Of course, he wouldn't know that I believed that. He relieved me from his insistent tickling immediately, flashing me his signature smile.

I shot him a death glare as he stood up and brushed himself off, and held out his hand for me. We had ended up on the floor without me even noticing. I took it, feeling electric currents tingle at my fingertips. I was pretty sure I was the only one who felt that.

I noted that he was wearing a purple JAGK shirt with 'boner' printed on the front and a pair of black skinnies. His wrecked converse had been left in the hallway, leaving him in his superman socks. His hair was styled in its usual messy disarray. God, he looked hot.

As soon as he had helped me up, Jack began running around in circles shouting 'Ruby's coming to Warped, Ruby's coming to Warped.' After his tenth lap, Rian had to stop him.

They got set up in the basement, after I had received hugs from Zack and Rian, and I got snuggled down on the old worn out sofa down there, ready to be their critic.

'Any requests?' Alex asked quizzically, already knowing the answer.

'Oooh! I said clapping my hands in excitement. 'The Party Scene!' It was my favourite song they had released, the grittier realistic stuff.

_Hey kid, you've got a lot of potential_

_But I think it's time to move up_

_So go on and blow us away with your sound, now_

_You're everything that we've come to love_

_You taught us to move, now show it off_

_Just drop us a beat…_

Typically, I zoned out after the first verse. I watched the look of utter concentration on Jack's face as his fingers flew up and down his guitar expertly, he was so cute. And his eyes, I don't think I had ever seen such brown eyes. They were the colour of chocolate, warm and loving, with flecks of amber. I came back to Earth just as they were finishing the song; I had to stop day-dreaming.

When they were done, I clapped loudly, cheering. Jack done an over exaggerated bow, and we all laughed. I stayed for the rest of the practice, giving a few tips, but mostly just staying in my own little world.

I headed up when they began packing things away and going over set-lists. I figured I'd make dinner, it was only four, but I was sure the boys wouldn't mind. They had never-ending appetites.

I decided to keep it simple, I didn't really have much of an appetite today, I didn't know what was up with me. Chicken pasta bake for main, and Ben and Jerry's for dessert, dinner made.

'DINNER!' I yelled in the general direction of the boys, I didn't know if they were still in the basement, or if they had moved up into the living room. The sound of thundering footsteps echoed through the kitchen, and they ran through the door, practically drooling when they saw the food. They all crammed around the kitchen table, wolfing down everything in sight. I was in shock at how quickly they could move when food was mentioned, it was almost inhuman.

I stuck to the counter as they hoovered the food from their plates, going back for seconds and thirds. I had hardly even touched my meal, and they had cracked open the Ben & Jerry's.

'That was great, Ruby-Dooby.' Jack said patting his stomach. I smiled at him as I gathered in all the plates, and put them in the dishwasher.

'Aw, thanks Jackie.' I replied, before heading up for a shower. I needed to think properly, and a shower was the best place for that.

I let the warm spray soothe me as I thought everything over. I was at loss with the situation I was in. I couldn't tell the one of the people who I was closest to, who I told everything, who I had a crush on. Because, it was his best friend. And then there was the problem that Jack was oblivious to the fact that I liked him, and most definitely didn't like me back. I mean why would he? Sure, we were friends and we had a good time together, but why would he think anything more would become of it? It was impossible. I switched the water off after I had methodically washed my hair, and stepped out into the freezing cold hallway, hurrying across the landing.

I almost took a heart-attack when I ran into Jack.

'Oh, hey there.' I said awkwardly, rearranging my towel and looking at my feet.

'Hey there Ruby-Bear! Coming down for the movie night?' he asked, as cheerful as ever, and clearly not affected by my hardly-clothed body.

'Yeah, I'll be down in a bit.' I replied, smiling half-heartedly at him before going into my room, and shutting the door tight behind me. See? I told myself, he doesn't like you. I changed into my jim jams; an oversized you me at six tee and a pair of jersey shorts. It was kind of cold in the house, so I shoved my Jack Wills zipper on, before padding downstairs into the living room.

'Honestly? Do we need to watch this?' I groaned, as I saw the title screen for Paranormal Activity flash up onto the TV screen.

'Yup.' Alex replied, spread out on the three seater, leaving Jack and I on the love-seat. Zack and Rian must have headed home already. Alex knew I hated horrors. I jumped onto the two seater where Jack was sitting, letting him put his feet over the top of me.

'Fuck you, Alex.' I muttered as the film started. I mostly just played with the edging of Jack's jeans rather than watch the movie. I caught Jack looking at me a few times, amused with my constant fiddling of his jeans, but he never said anything, and that I was happy about. Halfway through the movie, when the main character was dragged out of her bed, I decided I'd had enough. It was way too freaky for me, without even watching it fully.

'Yeah, I'm calling it a night, guys. This shit's way too freaky for me.' I said, moving Jack's legs and sliding off of the sofa. I heard them protesting, but I just leaned down and gave Alex a kiss on the cheek, and hugged Jack. 'Night,' I called, before heading to my room.

I opened my balcony door, breathing in the cool fresh air. I had had to fight tooth and nail for this room, Alex had his heart set on it when we first moved in, but when he pushed me down the stairs onto the special china, and left me with a long scar down my left thigh, he was forced to give it to me. Yeah, I played it up just a little bit. What can I say? I was only eight.

I grabbed my guitar from the floor of my room and sat outside with it. I had made my balcony a sort of den, with blankets and cushions covering the floor, and tea-lights littered on the ledge of the wall. I sat on one of the cushions, tracing the signatures on the guitar that Alex had gotten me while he was touring with the band. Chirstofer Drew, Mikey Way, Jared Leto, Hayley Williams, Mark Hoppus and others. They all marked a different part of my life, linking the memories and keeping them from fading.

I began to strum the familiar tune of My Chemical Romance, Cancer, letting myself get lost in the music.

_Turn away__  
><em>_If you could get me a drink__  
><em>_Of water cause my lips are chapped and faded_

_Call my Aunt Marie__  
><em>_Help her gather all my things__  
><em>_And_ _bury me__  
><em>_In all my favorite colors,__  
><em>_My sisters and my brothers, still,__  
><em>

_I will not kiss you,_

_Cause the hardest part of this__,__  
><em>_Is leaving you.__  
><em>_[ Lyrics from: .com/lyrics/m/my_chemical_ ]__  
><em>_Now turn away,__  
><em>_Cause I'm awful just to see__  
><em>_Cause all my hair's abandoned all my body,__  
><em>

_All my agony,__  
><em>_Know that I will never marry,__  
><em>_Baby, I'm just soggy from the chemo,__  
><em>_But counting down the days to go._

_It just ain't living_

_And I just hope you know,_

_That if you say, __  
><em>_Good-bye today, __  
><em>_I'd ask you to be true __  
><em>_Cause the hardest part of this,__  
><em>_Is leaving you..._

_Cause the hardest part of this,__  
><em>_Is leaving you..._

My voice broke in the middle as tears flowed steadily down my cheeks. When I had finished the melody, my shirt was salty and stained. God, I cried too much. I wiped my eyes, telling myself to get a grip before digging out my song-book hidden under the blankets. It was still light enough for me to see, I would only have to light a few candles…

I played random notes on my guitar, getting the feel of it again. It had been a while since I had written a song. My book lay open, a fresh page ready to be scribbled on with guitar notes and words, explaining the riffs and sudden change of beat.

I reluctantly returned inside only when the glow from the candles wasn't enough for me to see, and the midges began to bite. I was proud of myself though, I had managed to write a half decent song while I had been out. I played it over when I got back inside, and it sounded good. A start at least.

I lay in bed for a while, listening to my iPod and texting Lola; my best friend, before my mind insisted on rest. As I burrowed down under the covers, and my eyes were drooping, I heard the faint creak of the spare room door opening. Well, Jack's room door. He had stayed in that room whenever he was sleeping over for 6 years, after him and Alex had got out of the habit of sleeping in the living room. I smiled slightly, he must be staying tonight. I fell asleep, feeling a little bit safer.

I groaned as I was woken by the sound of my phone ringing. I denied the call, not even checking to see who it was before turning over onto my side and trying to sleep again. Ugh, it was impossible. No matter who much I tried, I just couldn't get back to sleep. I checked the time; almost blinding myself with the brightness of my phone and saw it was 4.30 am, way too early to be up.

Knowing sleep was out of the question; I dragged my duvet of the bed and headed downstairs to the lounge, switching on Shrek and snuggling down to watch it on the sofa. About fifteen minutes in, I heard someone softly coming down the stairs and into the living room. It was Jack. He looked adorable, his hair all flat and only in his sweatpants.

'Hey,' he said tiredly, rubbing his eyes. 'Why you up so early?' he asked, plopping down beside me and stealing some of my covers.

'Some stupid prick phoned me, and I couldn't get back to sleep.' I replied, shifting my legs onto him and giving him some of my duvet. 'Why are you up?' I asked, curious. I thought I had been quiet in the process of going downstairs.

'Couldn't sleep and I heard the television. Thought I would check it out.' He said, smiling a little. I chuckled.

'Yeah, cause you could have knocked the burglars clean out.' I joked, laughing. He feigned hurt, rubbing his heart.

'You cut me real deep. And for your information, I could totally knock someone out. With my pinky finger.' He replied, face totally serious.

'Oh yeah, definitely. With those muscles, the burglars don't stand a chance.' I said, nodding, my face grave.

'Hey! Don't diss my babies, I might have to throw you in the pool if you say anything else mean about them, I can't let them take that kind of abuse.' He said, kissing both his arms. I just laughed, shaking my head.

It was cute that he knew all the words to Shrek, almost matching my skill, and I had watched this movie a million times. We quoted words to each other the whole way through it, laughing at the smallest things and just talking. It was good; I hadn't properly spoke to Jack in weeks. But, I still wanted more. As the film neared an end, we settled into a comfortable silence, and I swear, I shut my eyes for a second, and it was morning.

We were still in the same positions as last night, me curled up and Jack with his legs stretched out in-front of him. The TV was replaying the Shrek title screen over and over again. The duvet had ended up on the floor, in a heap. Jack was sound asleep, breathing lightly with one of his hands on my leg. I gently eased myself off the sofa, careful not to wake him, and put the cover over him. As if he sensed I wasn't there anymore, he lay down on the sofa, muttering slightly in his sleep. He was so cute it made me want to scream.

I stumbled into the kitchen, turning the kettle on and sitting at the breakfast bar. What an amazing start to the day. Sure, I was sleep-deprived, but waking up on the sofa with Jack definitely made up for that!

Suddenly, I was depressed. I needed to do something about it; I couldn't just go about acting as if everything was normal. I wanted to do something; I wanted him to like me back.

The kettle clicking loudly brought me out of my anguish. I poured my energy in a cup, and went to sit outside. I had no idea what time it was, but I didn't care. It was light outside, so it was probably around nine. I sat cross legged on the patio, looking up at the sky. The clouds made million of shapes, just like the stars did, that night Jack and I were out here.

I sipped my coffee, shivering slightly in the morning breeze. I had left my hoodie in my room. On a whim, I decided to go up and get it. I needed to check my phone anyway, and see who was phoning me at four in the morning. I plodded upstairs, and saw that my room door was half open. I was certain I had shut it after I went down the stairs. I walked in warily and blew a fuse when I saw Alex sitting on my bed, sifting through my phone.

'WHAT THE FUCK ALEX?' I screamed, running at him and trying to snatch my phone. I failed miserably as he quickly stood up, holding it above his head. Our height differences weighed on Alex's side.

'WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?' He yelled thrusting my phone in my face, last nights text conversation with Lola had been pulled up. Dread filled in my stomach, but I ignored it, dealing with my bigger feeling; anger.

'YOU WENT THROUGH MY TEXTS?' I screamed, punching his arm, 'YOU BASTARD. GIVE ME MY PHONE BACK RIGHT NOW ALEX, OR YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD.' I bellowed.

'YOU LIKE JACK, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?' He screamed back, 'MY FUCKING BEST FRIEND?' I ignored the question.

'WHY DID YOU GO THROUGH MY TEXTS ALEX, WHY? THAT'S MY OWN FUCKING PRIVACY; I RESPECT YOURS SO YOU RESPECT MINE.' I shouted, I was near tears now. Betrayal settling in my stomach.

'YOU'RE AVOIDING THE QUESTION!' He yelled at me. I gritted my teeth, I may as well just tell him.

'Yes, okay? Now give me my phone back and get the fuck out of my room. You're un-fucking-believable, do you know that? I thought I could fucking trust you, and this is what you do? Just get out, Alex. GET THE FUCK OUT!' I screamed, my voice breaking and tears streaming steadily down my face.

His face was furious, and his jaw set as he threw my phone on my desk and walked out the room, slamming the door behind him.

I descended into fits of tears. My own brother had fucking betrayed me. I had thought that he would realise how much trust meant to me after Ross cheated, but obviously not. And he had found out about Jack, and I hadn't even told him myself. I felt like the worst sister in the world. I crawled onto my bed and cried my heart out.

**Okay, the starting to this story is very similar to a story I've read, but I swear the story-lines different. I'm not trying to copy the author. I've had a total writers block with Someone Like You, and I'm only two chapters in! I might continue it, I don't know. But right now, I'm focussing on this story. Please review if you like it, it would be much appreciated. **

**Copyright to All Time Low, and My Chemical Romance for the amazing songs in the passage. **


	2. Hoping That Maybe You Didn't Hear

Chapter Two

It felt as if I was stuck in a horrific place in my mind, that I couldn't escape from. The pain of Ross cheating kept returning to me, killing me on the inside. The memories of the months we had spent together, doing things normal couples would do, while all the time he was cheating. The humiliation when I found out that all of his friends, that I had considered my friends, had known about it. My heart seemed to splinter a little.

Alex betraying me only made it worse, somewhere in the back of my head I knew I was over-reacting, but I couldn't stop crying. The tears seemed to go on endlessly as I was curled in a fetal position at the bottom of my bed. My breathing was jagged and rough, as my mind replayed the scene of walking in on Ross and Chelsea over and over again. I had thought I was over it, that I had moved on. Obviously, not.

I don't know how long I cried for, it was a while. But eventually I pulled myself out of my depressive state, when I heard raised voices from downstairs.

My heart dropped when I remembered that Jack had stayed. That Jack had been there through-out the whole argument. Panic filled me, and my heart dropped. What if he had heard everything? What if he knew I liked him? Then things would get awkward between us, and we wouldn't even have a chance at being friends if he'd heard. And he would think that I was an utter freak, and would be different around me after that. I was such a fuck-up. I heard soft footsteps coming up the stairs, and my room door creaked open. A fresh flow of tears started as I saw Lisa standing in the doorway, a look of sympathy on her face.

She sat down beside me, pulling me up and hugging me, while patting my back soothingly. I inhaled her sweet scent and tried to calm down, taking small gasps of air every few seconds. I was pretty sure I sounded like a retard, but I didn't care. She hugged me closer, rocking us back and forth as the last of my tears dried.

'Are you okay, sweetheart?' she asked soothingly, still hugging me.

'No.' I gasped, trying not to cry again. She hugged me tighter, before withdrawing and looking me over.

'Alex told me what happened.' She said quietly. I smiled cruelly, wiping the stray tears from my face.

'Yeah, me being my usual fuck-up self.' I mumbled. She raised her eyebrows at my comment, and surprised me with her response.

'He was being a dick.' She said matter-of-factly.

'But how was he? I was the one who never told him about it, and he had a right to know, Jack being his best friend and all. I mess everything up. And Jack was downstairs the whole time we were arguing, so he most probably heard everything and thinks I'm a total freak. And I feel like a terrible sister, because he found out through a text, and its bringing back all the bad memories, and I just, I just want to feel okay again. I feel as if anytime something's going right in my life, I screw it up. Everything's my fault. I seem to repel people.' I rambled, totally going off topic. She sensed that I wasn't talking about Alex anymore, and took my face in her hands.

'That was not your fault, Ruby. Ross was a prick to you, and I know that you're upset about it. You can't blame yourself for mistakes that he's made.' She said, piercing me with her green eyes. It was almost uncomfortable the way she stared at me; it was as if she had x-ray vision. She removed her hands from my face, and spoke again.

'You know, Alex cheated on me.' she said casually, as I looked at her in shock. What the fuck? Anger filled me, when the fuck did this happen? And he didn't even think to tell me?

'When?' I asked, reigning in my anger.

'It was a while ago I found out, a few months before you and Ross broke up. I nearly fucking killed him.' She said, her eyes filling with bitterness as she told me her story.

'It was Bamboozle '08, almost a year ago. It was some slutty fan-girl that came on to him, and apparently he was drunk. It killed me. I never thought that I was going to get over it, I thought that I would hate his guts forever, and I would never trust him again, but I did. I took him back, and we're as happy as we've ever been.' She finished, staring straight at me, encouraging me in some way. I went in the opposite direction.

'Wait, what? You're saying that I should forgive Ross, and get back together with him?' I asked, puzzled. Everyone had hated Ross's guts when he cheated on me, and I, I didn't know how I felt yet. My feelings of rage and betrayal had yet to pass, but I had loved him before. But, I didn't think it would ever be the same again. She shook her head vehemently.

'No way. Alex and mines relationship was different, I don't mean to offend. We had a stronger bond than you and Ross. We'd had an argument that night, where we both said things we regretted, and that probably fuelled him cheating. What I'm trying to say is that, it's possible to move on after someone's cheated. I'm living proof of that. And, there are loads of other people going through the same thing out there. But you have to move on, or it'll tear you apart. I know you're still raw about it all; I mean it was only a month ago, but you need to move on.' She said, partially begging me to let Ross go, and move on with my life. I understood what she meant. I had been a mere shadow of myself for the past month, wallowing in self-pity and think of 'what ifs.' I had to leave that jack-ass behind. I nodded at her, giving her a watery smile.

'I know it just hurt so much.' I said my voice cracking. She pulled me into another tight hug.

'I know, I know.' She soothed, rocking us back and forward again. I pulled back after a while, wiping away a few tears that had fallen yet again, and laughed.

'I'm an emotional wreck.' I giggled, she laughed at me, nodding.

'Did you happen to see Jack downstairs?' I questioned, slightly anxious.

'Nope, he was gone when I arrived. And don't worry about him either; I'm sure everything will work out.' She said mysteriously, winking at me. I flushed bright red, looking away awkwardly.

'And Alex wants to apologise to you.' She said, smiling kindly at me before standing up.

'Can you ask him to give me a minute?' I asked, standing up myself.

'Sure.' She smiled, and walked out of my room, shutting the door behind her.

I walked straight into my bathroom, ignoring the mirror that would reflect the horrible state I was in, and stepped into the shower, letting myself mull everything over that had happened in the space of three hours.

I had took a crying fit, found out my brother cheated on his girlfriend, realised what an emotional mess I was, and maybe told the boy I liked, that I had a crush on him. What an amazing day, I thought sarcastically.

I thanked God that Lisa had come and spoken to me. She was like the big sister I never had, and she spoke so wisely about the cheating thing. I knew she was right about it, and it was time to move on properly. I had to stop thinking back on it, and get on with my life. I had to start trusting people again, and letting them in. I knew that if Ross hadn't cheated, I would probably have told Alex about Jack. It had totally messed up my life. He had totally messed up my life. Rage filled me as I thought about what he had done to me. How could I have even considered taking him back, today when I was talking to Lisa? He was a useless piece of trash that had wreaked havoc in my life. I didn't want him anywhere near me, ever again.

I got out of the shower quickly, shoving on a pair of sweats, a paramore shirt and an old hoodie. I tied my wet hair up in a topknot, before looking in the mirror. Shit, I looked a mess. My eyes were still swollen and red from my crying jag, not helped much by the large dark circles resting underneath them. The usual emerald green sparkle they emitted seemed to be dulled somehow. My creamy skin had lost it's colour, the pinkish tinge from my cheeks gone. It wasn't as if it mattered anyway, it was only Alex, and he had seen me in far worse states. I brushed my teeth, before wandering back into my room to check my phone. I still needed to find out who was calling me in the middle of the night.

When I looked, it was still on Lola and mines text conversation. I read it, trying to find out what Alex knew about what I felt for Jack. I sighed loudly when I realised he knew everything, and more than he needed to. Stupid iPhone conversation settings. But when I went to check the call, it was marked as Unknown. I had everyone's number that I spoke to on a regular basis, saved onto my phone, so I didn't have a clue who it might be. But anyway, they were automatically a spactard. Phoning me at four in the morning. Who the fuck is up at that time?

I pushed that thought to the side as I walked slowly down the stairs. From the sound of it, Alex was in the kitchen. I was a little nervous about talking to him. That meant we would have to discuss the whole Jack situation, and I didn't even know what was going on. But I knew the way he made me feel, was different from Ross.

When Jack spoke, it sent shivers down my spine. When he touched me, goose-bumps would appear on my skin. When he laughed, it made me feel as though I was high, and made me want to laugh too. And when he looked at me, it was like butterflies quadrupled. I had to act like a normal human being, though. I mean I couldn't exactly start jumping around the room because he said something to me. No, I had to be cool, calm and collected. Every fucking day. It was so hard. I just wanted to grab him and kiss the hell out of him. Everything with Ross was a hundred times weaker, compared to this. I think then, I was in love with the concept of being in love.

I stepped into the kitchen, gnawing at my lip and playing with my tragus piercing. It was what I did when I was nervous.

Alex was sat at the breakfast bar, his head in his hands. Lisa was no-where to be seen, I guess she had left, or went out for a little bit to give Alex and I some privacy.

'Hey,' I said awkwardly, twirling my piercing and looking at my bare feet. They were painted like bumble-bees, Lola's design. I had to admit, they were pretty cool. He looked up at me, his eyes looking tired and miserable.

'I'm sorry.' He said sincerely, opening his arms. I rushed towards him and hugged him back. No matter how many times my brother and I fought, we always made up. This was slightly more serious though, it was about Jack. We parted, and I smiled weakly at him.

'So where do you want to start?' I asked nervously. I didn't know what he was going to ask me about Jack, I just hoped it would be easy to answer.

'When did you start liking Jack?' he asked, appraising me as I thought the question over. I couldn't remember exactly when, but it was definitely a few days after Ross and I had broken up, I know it sounds slutty, but he was so sweet to me then, and it just kind of got bigger.

'Mid-June, after Ross and I had broken up.' I said mildly, trying not to give too much away, that was all he needed to know.

'Why him?' he asked, half-exasperatedly, half-curious. I fidgeted, I would have to tell him the reasons now. Why did my brother ask so many questions? I guess I owed it to him though; I would hate to find out about something he did through a text. That brought back the memory of Lisa telling me he had cheated. I would need to ask him about that.

'He was just so sweet to me, in the days after Ross and I had broken up, always trying to cheer me up, and just being generally nice.' I blushed, I had managed to manoeuvre round the real reason though, it was a little bit too cheesy for Alex. He nodded, seeming to be pleased with what I'd said.

'I don't like it though. He's my best friend Ruby; couldn't you have liked someone else? I don't want you to get hurt.' He said sadly, and my guts twisted. If anyone would know who Jack liked, it would be Alex, and if he didn't want me to get hurt, then it was obvious Jack didn't like me. A wave of sadness coursed through me. Although I knew he didn't like me before, there was still a tiny part of me hoping and praying that he did. It had been crushed, now.

'Don't worry; it's not as if anything will happen. He doesn't like me anyway; it's just a silly little crush.' I said sullenly, becoming too interested in my nail-beds. I saw Alex grimace briefly as I looked back up.

'Lisa told me you cheated.' I said quietly, tensing up when the grimace vanished from his face and he gaped at me. I was met by pure silence for at least 20 seconds. Why did I bring it up? I'm such a douche. It was in the past. I had mentally killed myself three times before Alex responded.

'Why would she tell you that?' he questioned shakily, I felt terrible but I stood my ground. He was the one that had cheated.

'She could tell that I was still having trouble fully getting over Ross, she wanted me to know that it was possible to get over someone cheating.' I replied, slight anger colouring my tone. I couldn't believe that he had done that to Lisa, I thought that they were unbeatable. I didn't feel bad anymore. He should have told me, and he shouldn't have done it in the first place.

'Yeah, I cheated. I was an ignorant bastard, and we'd fell out before it and I was a little drunk, and y'know one thing led to another. I regretted it straight away, and I didn't know how to tell Lisa, so I just kept it quiet. Then she found out, and at first she was furious I didn't think we would be able to be together anymore, she seemed so angry and I was sure that she would never forgive me. And then she did, and I was so grateful. I don't know why she's still with me, she deserves so much better.' He admitted, not looking at me the whole time. I felt a little better; at least he knew that he'd done wrong. It would have been worse if he'd just blown it off as if it was nothing.

'Why didn't you tell me?' I said gently, taking his hand softly. It was obvious that he was hurt over it, but he could have told me. I wouldn't have judged him. Well, maybe just a little bit.

'I could ask the same for you!' he said, ripping his hand out of mine, and folding them over his chest crossly.

'Fine. You go first.' I shrugged, he smiled a little. This was what we always did, when both of us had done something wrong and we had to admit to it.

'I was ashamed, I didn't want you to know and think that your big brother was a man-whore. You were in the middle of your studies too; I didn't want you to be distracted by my problems.' He finished, still smiling. I took a deep breath and started.

'I was scared of what you would think of me, I knew that you would react like this and I felt as though I couldn't trust anyone; but Lola during that time. I was still recovering from Ross.' I said, avoiding eye contact and looking out of the window.

'You can always trust me,' he said caringly.

'You can trust me too,' I replied, and he hugged me again with one of his brother bear hugs.

'We know next time not to be so stupid,' I laughed into his shoulder, I felt him shake with laughter and reply with a 'yeah.' We parted and I asked the question I was eager to know.

'When you came back downstairs, after having a thorough look through my phone,' he rolled his eyes, 'Was Jack still here?' I asked, trying to keep it light.

'Uh, yeah. He was kinda anxious; he left like five minutes after I came down.' He said, seemingly not aware that Jack could have heard.

'Do you think he heard?' I said weakly thoughts of him knowing running through my head.

'Nah, it wouldn't be like Jack to not say anything to me, it just seemed as though he was in a rush to go somewhere. Don't worry kiddo; I'm sure he doesn't know.' He replied seeming happier now than he was when I had first came into the kitchen.

'We were shouting pretty loud.' I said pathetically. He rolled his eyes at me, and stood up throwing an arm around my shoulders, and leading us through to the living room.

'Chill dude. He never heard.' He said exasperatedly, plopping down on the couch and turning the TV on. When I saw Friends on the screen, I automatically sat down, curling my arms around my knees. You gotta love Friends.

Alex and I laughed our asses off at Friends for the next hour and a half. We ordered a pizza and just chilled. It was good hanging out with my bro again, we had been distant recently, him being on tour and all, but it felt so good being able to see him again and do brother and sister things, like this.

Lisa never came back, so I guessed she'd just headed back home. At half seven, I headed back up to my room, bidding Alex goodnight, and grabbing my duvet from the corner of the room. I was surprised Alex hadn't asked about that, actually. Maybe he had heard us, or maybe he just thought I had left it down here.

I jumped on my bed as soon as I got into my room, pulling my cover over me. I smiled widely when I realised it still smelled of Jack. I switched on my bedside light quickly, and whipped out my phone pressing speed dial. I let it ring before I heard my best friend's familiar voice.

'Hello?' she asked tiredly, half-yawning.

'Please do not tell me you were sleeping, bitch.' I huffed.

'Of course, I was sleeping. What do you expect, it's nearly eight o'clock, it's way too early to be up.' She quipped. We continued our light-hearted banter, before I told her everything that had happened today. She listened to everything, giving her advice when she wanted to and generally being an amazing friend.

I hung up an hour later, feeling a little better and absolutely knackered. I was physically and emotionally drained after today's events. I didn't care if it was half eight at night, I was going to sleep.

Flicking off my light, I settled down with my duvet wrapped around me tightly, pressed against my nose so that I could smell Jack when I wanted to. It sounded weird but, it made me feel all warm and cuddly on the inside, if that was even possible. I was just on the edge of sleep when my phone started blaring 'Hot Mess' by Cobra Starship loudly, I jumped up yelping, my heart beating fast.

After calming down a little bit, I picked my phone up. It was an unknown number again.

'Hello?' I said irritably into the speaker. There was no answer.

'Hello? Who is this?' I asked again, starting to get angry. Why phone and not talk? It was absolutely pointless.

'Hello?' I asked again, and then the call was disconnected. I tried ringing it back, but the call was withheld.

I huffed frustrated, and put my phone on silent, before resuming my position in bed. I lay in bed, wondering who had phoned me, and why they hadn't spoken. It was kinda creepy. I would need to ask Alex if he had gotten any phone-calls. That was my last thought before sleep took me.

**Hey there. I hope you enjoyed the chapter :) that's really all. Review if you wish! **


	3. It's A Big Bad World

**Okay, first of all I have to explain about Ruby's career/schooling. She attended a school that specialises in ballet, and is also a private school (Lola, Ross etc attend this.) instead of some lessons she will have a ballet period, she would stay behind after school for dance lessons & such. It basically prepares her for life as a ballet dancer. She knows all her friends from either the ballet or the private school. She's now graduated, but can still take classes at the school for practice and to learn new routines. **

Chapter Three

'Why do you need to come? You're gonna cramp my style.' I moaned as I munched on my toast and Nutella. Alex was just after telling me that he planned to join Lola and me tonight, out partying.

'Because, I promised mom that I would look after you, and I'm not letting my seventeen year old sister run around town. There are creepy men out there.' He said, smiling widely at me. He knew that I was mad at him, and he loved that he was ruining my plans for tonight.

'You're the crappiest big brother ever.' I complained, pouting.

'I'll keep my distance, Zack and Jack are going anyway so I won't be hangin' with you and Lo.' My heart fluttered as he mentioned Jack's name, and I blushed slightly. He rolled his eyes at my reaction. It had been a week since he had found out about Jack, and I guess he wasn't fully over it yet.

'Fine, if you're following me around like a lost puppy tonight, can you drive me to the studio today? I need to practice again, I feel as if I've been neglecting ballet.' I asked, in my uber sweet I'm-such-a-good-sister voice. He huffed at me.

'I can't wait until you can drive.' He groaned, I pecked his cheek and ruffled his hair.

'Well, if you teach me or convince Mom and Dad to get me driving lessons, your chauffer duty will be relieved.' I sang as I bounced upstairs to get my dance bag together.

I grabbed my Pointe shoes, and ballet slippers from the cupboard, shoving them in a rucksack and added an old All Time Low top and some yoga pants. I wouldn't have to wear my proper things today, it was more just stretching and making sure I was still capable of doing some of the moves.

I ran downstairs, and met Alex in the hallway. He huffed at me, obviously pissed off that he had to drive me somewhere. Cons of having a little sister. I smiled sweetly at him, ruffling his hair just to piss him off a little more, and stepped out of the house.

He locked the door behind us as I scrambled into his black Range Rover. It still had that new car smell; he had only bought it a couple of months ago. The engine purred to life and we set off on the familiar route to my old school.

'So what time are you and Lo heading out, tonight?' he asked, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the Panic at the Disco song in the background. I huffed; I had almost forgotten that Alex would be coming with us tonight. I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed.

'Well, Lo's coming round to ours to get ready, about five? So whenever we're ready, I guess.' I told him, grumpily. Why did my brother have to be so over-protective? I didn't want him to be following and judging my every move tonight, I wanted to get absolutely wasted with my best friend and have a great fucking time. I would regret it in the morning, but live in the moment, right?

'I love that I'm ruining your plans for tonight.' He chuckled, and I whacked his arm grumbling. He just laughed even more at me.

'Just let me do my own thing, watch from a distance. Or don't watch at all, stay at home by yourself, romance Lisa. Don't come out with me, your boring little sister.' I tempted him, trying desperately to get him to stay at home. He looked as though he was considering what I had said, and the smiled wickedly at me.

'No.' he laughed, I threw my hands up sighing dramatically. He better not come near me tonight.

'Okay, so will I tell Zack and Jack to come round for seven? Give you time to get 'glammed up' or whatever.' He asked me, I huffed again.

'Whatever.' I mumbled. Why did my plans always get messed up? Tonight was supposed to be a fun girly night with my best friend, and now I had two boys and my brother coming with us. Not that I minded about Jack going…but still. What's a girl gotta do for a night out on the town with her best friend?

'Well can you text them?' he asked in a _duh _voice.

'Can't you do it?' I asked grumpily.

'I'm doing this thing called driving, so no. I can't.' he said as if I was mentally disabled.

'Why can't you do it later?' I asked for no apparent reason, I could just have whipped out my phone and text Zack and Jack, but I just liked being difficult.

'Because, I'll forget later. Can you just text them? It's not that difficult.' He said angrily. I snickered at him, I loved winding him up.

'Yeesh, calm the fuck down. Fine, I'll text them already, keep your wig on.' I said, rolling my eyes dramatically. He just sighed at me. I got my phone out and sent a quick text to Zack first.

_Hey Zackaroo, Alex is too lazy to text you himself, so I'm on about tonight. Can you head round to mines for about seven? Or even better, don't turn up so that Alex won't come out with me tonight. Whatever works. And if you do come, please please please, distract my brother and don't let him approach me tonight. See you soon! Or if you don't show, then I won't and I'll be forever grateful to you for forcing my brother to stay in. :). _

I sent that one first before moving onto Jack's message.

_Jackyyyyy! Alex wants you at ours for seven, but can you just not arrive? Then maybe he won't want to go out, and will leave me alone? He's gonna follow me around all night :( _

I sent that quickly, and in record time I had two replies.

_I'm not giving up a night out. Sorry, you'll just have to be forever-ungrateful towards me :) _

_ Rubyyyyyyyyy! I'm arriving alright, I need a night out! He won't follow you; he'll just watch your every move from the corner of the room :) see you soon! _

I groaned at both of their replies. Looks like it was gonna be a 'group outing.'

'How come Rian can't come?' I asked curiously, it was weird for him not to be coming. They usually all did everything together.

'He's doing something with Kara, they're making the most of the next two weeks.' He said grimly. That reminded me that Warped tour was in a few weeks. My stomach flipped excitedly, I was really looking forward to it. I guess Alex was dreading leaving Lisa again. She had been round every day since they had gotten back from touring last month. It must be hard, having a relationship with someone that was touring all the time.

'Then why aren't you out romancing Lisa?' I asked, getting my hopes up again. 'You'd have the house to yourself and everything.' He turned and looked at me amusedly.

'Ruby. Shut up, I'm coming out with you. Lisa's having a night with her brother, so I have nothing better to do.' He smirked at me, obviously remembering something. 'And think about it, having three elder and legally allowed to drink adults might actually help you get into the club.' He laughed, and I smiled a little. I suppose it would. We would have been able to get in ourselves, we looked old enough and being a girl had its advantages at times. As if Alex was reading my mind, he threw me a question I didn't exactly know how to answer.

'How were you even planning to get in?' he said half curious, half serious. _Aw shit. _I said mentally. I didn't want to tell my brother that I had been there before, and was actually quite friendly with the bouncer that worked on Fridays. Nor did I want to tell him about using my womanly ways to get myself in. Mind you, I had been blessed with quite an open-minded brother. He was cool with whatever I did as long as he didn't hear details. It was a fair deal, and at least he wasn't breathing down my neck.

This had been the first time in forever that he had insisted that he come out with me. I guess he just wanted a night out too. And anyway, it wasn't as if he would be hanging around with me, he had even said that he would keep his distance. I thought this all over in my mind, almost forgetting the question he had asked me.

'Oh, erm. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Just flirting really.' I said vaguely. He huffed and readjusted himself in his seat. Guess he was a little uncomfortable talking about his sister flirting with random guys, and the other methods I would use, that he had surely guessed.

We continued the rest of the drive to the school in silence. It was only a ten minute drive, and twenty minute walk. I guess I could have walked instead of getting a lift off of Alex, but I was too lazy to even have attempted it. I hummed along to the radio and looked out of the window, taking in the sights ofBaltimore.

Alex pulled up at the familiar looking modern building and turned to smile at me.

'Have a good practice. Do I need to pick you up too?' he half moaned as I grinned evilly and nodded.

'Is four okay? That gives me a few hours to go over everything.' I asked, and he rolled his eyes and nodded. 'See you soon.' I sang, and jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind me.

I walked up to the school, heading straight for the ballet studios. You could enter them from outside, without going through the school hallways. I went this way, wanting to avoid the halls where bad memories had taken place.

Reaching the door to Studio 2; my usual studio, I pushed it open with a massive smile on my face. I loved coming to the studios. It was a place I could let all my excess frustration out, and just be myself. I spotted one of my old dance teachers, Simone sitting beside the piano at the far left of the room, mumbling to herself and scribbling on a piece of paper. She obviously wasn't aware that I was here.

'Simone!' I squealed, running at her. She was one of the younger dance teachers, only 25. Her eyes widened when she saw me and her face split into a smile.

'Ruby!' she yelled, opening her arms up for me. I hugged her back, a massive smile on my face. I hadn't expected her to be here. She was definitely one of my favourite teachers, she was more like a friend and we would be able to have fun while doing ballet. She was an amazing choreographer too; she had choreographed some amazing pieces for the school, some including me.

'I didn't expect to see you here today!' she gasped, grasping my shoulders and looking me over. 'You haven't changed a bit.' She said happily, smiling kindly at me.

'It's only been a few weeks, you're acting as though I've been to war.' I chuckled, she looked exactly the same. 'So, are you staying here? I was just going to practice some of the dances, see if I can still do some of the stuff.' I asked her, gesturing around the deserted studio.

'I'll stay, and help you go over some things. If you help me? I need someone to look over these notes; I'm trying to put a dance together for the younger ones, and I'm failing. You were always good at putting the dances together for the groups.' I blushed slightly at the compliment and nodded my head a little. I would get on much better if Simone was here, someone that could criticize me properly, and tell me what I was dong wrong.

I got my stuff out of my bag, and walked to the toilet telling Simone I would be back in a minute, she nodded and grabbed her ballet slippers from beside the piano and slipped them on. I got changed quickly in the tiny bathroom, and shoved my Pointe shoes on, coming back through to the Studio.

'You got your iPod on you?' she asked me, I nodded. I always had my iPod, wherever I went. I knew the drill; I grabbed it from my bag, and plugged it into the stereo almost invisible at the very corner of the room and put on the play-list 'warm-up'

'You're Not in on the Joke' by Cobra Starship blasted from the speakers as started out warm-up, jogging softly on the spot. I didn't do things normally, I preferred to mix things up when it came to ballet, with pop punk music, and alternative instead of the old fashioned piano pieces.

We got down on the floor, sitting with our legs straight out in front of us and pointing our toes up and down around 20 times before repeating with the other. We then rotated our ankles, to strengthen them, ten times each.

Our warm-up was kinda basic, but it had worked for me since I had started this school, so I never complained. We continued with our stretches, before we moved onto the real business. I was already covered in a light sheen of sweat, and panting lightly. I had forgotten how much energy ballet took out of you.

I was doing my routine to My Chemical Romance's, 'This is How I Disappear'. I told you I liked to mix it up.

'Ready?' Simone asked as I took my place in the middle of the floor. I nodded my head nervously. I hated performing in front of people, a bit of an inconvenience when that was the career plan I planned to take; performing arts.

I took a few deep breaths as the music started, and tried to get lost in it and take Simone's advice.

'Keep your arms straight, like that. Good.' She barked over the music. I leaned further back, stretching my arms out before slowly standing up. 'Toes, keep them straight remember. Good, keep going.' My arms lifted slowly as I raised myself up onto my toes. 'Keep the emotion in your face, that's it. Anger, how angry are you?' I gritted my teeth asGerard Way's voice screamed 'Go.'

My signal to start. 'And turn, turn, turn keep going!' she screamed at me, as I started to get out of breath, it was hard doing these turns, I had forgotten. I kept turning, the aching in my feet becoming more prominent. Fuck, I love ballet. I continued with the routine, listening and taking Simone's advice. We did the routine five times before she told me to stop.

'You're doing amazing; I can't believe you thought that routine up yourself. Are you planning on going on with ballet?' she asked, beaming with pride. I blushed, biting my lip. It was nothing spectacular.

'Yeah, of course. It would just be a waste of a high school career if I didn't. My whole life, I've wanted to do this. I'm going to go toNew York. I haven't said to anyone yet, but that's my plan. I'll have more opportunities over there for roles in the theatre. I'm gonna try for Juilliard, some other schools too. I want to make a name for myself in the ballet world. I know that it's a terrible choice to major in ballet, and I know I'll probably be penniless and live like a hermit, but it's what I want to do. I will do it, it's my dream.' I admitted.

Everything I said was true. I had been thinking about moving toNew Yorkfor a few months soon. I knew that it would be good for my career; there would be more colleges over there willing to accept me than there would be here. There would be more work too, with the amount of theatres and production teams inNew York. But I was too young, I mean I was only seventeen going on eighteen right now, and going toNew Yorkright now would change my life dramatically. I didn't know if I was ready for it yet. My brother was twenty three years old, had made it big in the music world and still lived at home. Moving at such a young age would turn my world upside down, I would be paying bills, living on my own, making my own money, it was a lot for an eighteen year old.

That was the main reason I had decided to take a gap year. It would give me time to relax and think everything through, so I wasn't making any rash decisions. I could also improve my ballet skills, and still have plenty of time to fill in application forms. It would give me time, if I was going to move toNew York, to look at flats and stuff.

'I have no doubt that Juilliard will snap you up in a minute if you apply. You have talent, raw talent. Some of the best that this school has ever seen. Follow your dreams, just do it.' She beamed at me. I blushed bright red, I hated when people complimented me. It was embarrassing.

'Thank you.' I said quietly, smiling a little at her. I took a break, and we worked on the choreography for the younger group. After we had finished, Simone went, leaving me alone in the studio.

I decided to work on one of my older routines that I had been drilled into us last year. I loved it; it was one of my favourite. I turned the stereo up full blast and turned on 'Always' by Blink 182, it wasn't the normal music for it, but normal was over-rated. I smiled widely as the music began and became absorbed in the dance. I let the music take me, and the moves came naturally to me. The dance seemed to be ingrained in my brain. Four minutes later, I was panting heavily as the music finished.

'That was fucking awesome.' Jack's voice said, and I jumped in fright. Then I saw Jack and Alex standing by the emergency exit door. I put my hand over my heart that was beating

erratically.

'Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out of me,' I gasped 'how long have you been here?' I asked.

'Just from the beginning of that dance, you really zone out, huh?' Jack said, grinning at me. I smiled back at him, nodding slightly.

'You're early.' I said to Alex. He shook his head at me.

'Actually I'm late, it's half four. I had to pick Jack up.' He explained, I frowned I really had lost track of time.

'Oh. How did you know what Studio I was in?' I asked curiously. I was quite certain I hadn't told either of them what Studio I would be in.

'Ruby, you're pretty much the only ballet dancer that does routines with Blink 182 blasting. It wasn't hard to find you when you could hear the music from Alex's car.' Jack chuckled, and I rolled my eyes. I took my Pointe shoes off, grabbed my iPod and shoved my shit in my bag before heading out the door with them.

'Seriously, though. You're an amazing dancer.' Jack said honestly, as we walked up the pathway to Alex's Range Rover. I blushed brightly as my heart fluttered. Could I just kiss him?

'Thanks,' I mumbled, giving him a bright smile that he returned. My ego got boosted the tiniest bit.

We got into the car, me forced into the back because Jack fought me for the front seat, and Alex fiddling with the stereo.

'iPod?' he said to me, holding out his hand and I gave it him begrudgingly rolling my eyes. I had wanted to listen to it on my own on the journey home. That obviously wasn't gonna happen. He put my iPod on shuffle, and The Sharpest Lives by My Chemical Romance came on.

'Ew, you like My Chemical Romance?' Jack grimaced. I whacked the side of his head.

'Hey, don't be hating on My Chemical Romance, they're better than you guys.' I said indignantly.

He stuck his tongue out at me, rubbing the side of his face and I returned the gesture smiling. Alex skipped some songs, until we got one we all liked. 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous' by Good Charlotte, blasted from the speakers as Alex turned the volume up full. It was so loud it shook the car. We all screamed along to the familiar tune, massive smiles on our faces.

_Always see it on T.V_

_Or read it in the magazines_

_Celebrities want sympathy_

_All they do is piss and moan_

_Inside the Rolling Stone_

_Talking about how hard life can be_

_I'd like to see them spend the week_

_Livin' life out on the street_

_I don't think they would survive_

_If they could spend a day or two_

_Walking in someone else's shoes_

_I think they'd fall_

_They would fall_

We earned funny looks from passers-by as Jack put down his window and put his head out screaming the chorus. I descended into a fit of giggles in the back seat as Alex and Jack kept the singing going.

_Lifestyles of the rich and the famous_

_They're always complaining_

_Always complaining_

_If money is such a problem_

_Well they got mansions_

_Think we should rob them_

I was doubled over with laughter at Jacks antics in the front, he was doing his signature dinosaur roar, a woman walking down the street actually dropped her bags when she heard him, and then gave him a look of disgust.

By the time the song had finished I couldn't breathe. Tears of laughter rolled down my face, as Jack put his window back up and acted as though nothing had happened. He looked round at me, and then spoke to Alex.

'Um, I think your sisters having a seizure.' He said seriously, setting me off into another fit of laughter. They both laughed at me, as I tried to get my breathing back to normal. That never happened until we reached the house.

I jumped out the car, grabbing my bag and texting Lola.

_Hey whore. I'm home; get your ass over here. _

I sent it quickly and unlocked the door, letting Jack and Alex in. I practically ran to the kitchen for food. I grabbed a pop-tart from the cupboard and munched on it happily as Alex and Jack entered.

'Okay, so what's happening tonight?' Alex asked. I rolled my eyes, and spoke with my mouth full.

'Well, Lo's coming round just now, and we were gonna head out for seven, that okay?' I garbled, finishing my pop tart. Alex had a look of disgust on his face, and I smiled innocently at him. Jack was raiding our cupboards for something, probably peanut butter.

'Ew. But, yeah that's cool.' He said, grimacing at me.

'You can't talk Alebear. You're one of the messiest eaters I know.' I said wiping the crumbs from the side of my mouth. 'I need to go shower, I STINK.' I yelled, slightly hyper from the sugar rush. I ran up the stairs and tripped on the last step falling flat on my face.

'You alright Rubz?' Alex yelled, I groaned before yelling back and jumping up.

'Yup, just fell.' I ran into my room and into the bathroom, stepping straight into the shower. About halfway through my shower, I heard my room door bang open.

'RUBY! GET YOUR FAT ASS OUT THE SHOWER AND HELP ME GET READY.' My best friend screamed, hammering on the bathroom door. I rolled my eyes at her dramatics and finished up quickly.

'Jesus fuck, I thought my room was messy before you arrived.' I said in shock as I stepped out of my bathroom. It was like a bombsite had went off, even more clothes were littered on the floor, and my dressing table was unrecognizable because of the amount of cosmetics on it. Welcome to my life, with my best friend.

'I found you an outfit.' She said impishly, smiling at me cockily.

'If the skirt isn't at least three quarters of the way down my thigh, I aint wearing it.' I stated. I had my limits.

'Oh please. Do you actually think I would put you in something shorter than that? Only I can pull that off and look classy.' She winked.

'Show me the outfit.' I said flatly. My best friend had a wacky dress style, but she always seemed to pull it off. Me on the other hand, not so much.

'Ta daaaaa' she squealed, revealing with a flourish my outfit. I had to give her credit, it was nice. It was a cream, almost tutu like skirt that flowed down just above my knees. It was patterned with a floral design, and was almost heavy looking. The top was a tank that I would have worn on a normal day, brownish black in colour with 'Wild Child' printed on the front, and an illustrated motorbike underneath. I could see that it would be tucked into the skirt, giving it a rocky feel. The shoes, I was a little nervous about. The large heel made the shoes seem daunting, but overall they were pretty. The tan colour clashed in a good way with the outfit and the straps holding them on made them seem more sophisticated.

'What do you think?' she asked excitedly, practically squirming with anticipation. Yes, my friend was a weirdo.

'I love it!' I said genuinely, and a massive smile lit up her face.

'Good. Now, can you manage your own make-up or do I have to do that too?' she asked, I smirked.

'I'm pretty sure I can manage that.' I said, slipping into my dressing gown and walking over to my iPod. I made up a quick play-list and put it on in the background. I sang loudly along to Blink 182 as I applied my make-up, and Lola half danced around the room getting her outfit together. An hour and a half later we were ready.

We descended the stairs slowly, me wobbling slightly in the dangerous heels Lola had practically forced me into.

'I'm gonna break my ankle.' I complained as I came to the last of the stairs.

'Oh, man up.' Lola said, rolling her eyes at my melodramatics.

'If I was a man I wouldn't have to wear heels.' I quipped, smirking at her. The glare on her face made me snigger as we made our way into the living room. Jack, Alex and Zack were gathered around the television all clutching Xbox controllers and yelling at the screen. They were all dressed up, kinda.

Alex had a blue plaid shirt on, with his usual skinny jeans. Zack had a dark blue shirt on and dark skinnies, and Jack was wearing a grey shirt with black skinnies and a scrummy looking leather jacket. He looked hot.

'Fun time's over boys.' I sang, turning the television off with the remote sitting on the arm of the couch.

'Aww, Ruby! I was just about to beat – whoah.' Zack said, stopping mid sentence when he turned round to face us. His eyes were on Lola. Yeah, she did look hot.

The other boys swivelled round, and Jack looked at me with wide eyes. I felt a deep satisfaction, he was totally checking me out. I blushed a deep red.

'What happened to my little sister?' Alex questioned, looking at me with wide eyes.

'She grew up, and bought high heels.' I said smiling gently at him.

I made brief eye contact with Jack again, and he blushed lightly as I looked at him. I must look nice tonight. I smiled widely at him and tottered over.

'You can be my walking stick tonight. I'm gonna end up falling on my ass with these stupid heels.' I told him. I noticed that even with five inch heels on, Jack still towered over my 5"2 frame. He smiled at me, making my heart all a flutter.

'Sure thing, Rubster.' He chuckled. If he just leaned down a little bit…

Alex pulled me out of my trance of Jack's lips when he announced that the Taxi's were outside. They had phoned them while they were playing Call of Duty. I walked out of the house, clutching Jacks arm tightly and got into the taxi.

I had a feeling tonight was going to be interesting…very interesting.

**Well, hello. This update is really late! I'm gonna try and update every wednesday or every second wednesday from now on. This is a crappy filler, DRAMA IN THE NEXT ONE! I was gonna make it all one, but it would have been uber long. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Feel free to review, and thank you for checking out my story and adding it to your alerts. It means a lot. **


	4. Oops

I sat in the back seat, half on Jack's lap, half on Lola's. We never realised until the taxi had arrived that there wouldn't be enough seats for all of us. After we made a decision on who would be sitting on someones laps – by rock, paper, scissors, we got in. Me, obviously being the loser was crammed on top.

The driver had actually been okay with it, and seemed quite relaxed driving about with the risk of being fined. I think he was on weed or something.

I was slightly uncomfortable sitting here. I mean, c'mon I was sitting on my crush's lap and he didn't even know I had feelings for him. It was awkward.

Lola's attention was fully with Zack, they seemed to be hitting it off quite well. She hadn't said much about him, but she did say he was hot. I wonder if she fancied him, I would have to get her to spill tomorrow…if I remembered. It was obvious he liked her though; he was absolutely engrossed in their conversation. It was so sweet! Aw, imagine if they became a couple! I thought excitedly.

I saw Alex in the front making awkward conversation with the cab driver. His posture told me that the conversation wasn't so great. He was all stiff in his seat, like cardboard. Well. That's his suffering for coming out with me.

As the cab turned a sharp bend, I nearly fell off my seat onto the cab floor and let out a scream. Almost reflexively Jacks arms wrapped around my waist, sending me back into his chest. He chuckled lightly at me, tightening his arms around me and I felt secure.

Lola laughed at me as I tried to regain my composure and I shot her a glare which made her laugh harder. Zack and Alex just shook their heads, knowing what I was like.

'I think you should just stay back here, klutzy.' He said to me grinning. I was practically shitting rainbows. 'So, what are you planning on doing tonight?' he asked.

'Get piss-drunk, dance and have the time of my life. And deal with my hangover in the morning.' I replied honestly, he laughed at me, readjusting his hands on my waist so that he was hardly touching me. My heart got heavier and a wave of disappointment washed over me. Well, at least I was still sitting fully on his lap.

A few minutes of conversation later, we pulled up outside Pulse. A grin spread across my face.

'LET'S GET FUCKING WASTED.' I screamed. I was backed up with a massive woop from Jack, and Lola. Alex just rolled his eyes at me as he paid the driver. I stumbled out of the car, almost falling in my shoes again. I could see them coming off somewhere in the duration of the night.

As I stood, shivering waiting for everyone to pile out of the car, I spotted someone in the queue for the club that made my night infinitively worse. _Jennifer. _I even snarled the name in my mind. Her. The bitch that had ended Ross and I's relationship.

She looked beautiful as always, making me feel minuscule. Her black hair flowed down her hair in waves and her ultra long legs were amplified by the shortness of her dress. But I could see her flaws now, her sluttiness. Her dress was too short, her make-up too thick, her boobs too pushed up. It was disgusting.

Lola walked over to me first, not even wobbling in the slightest in her massive heels.

'What's up, I sense your depression.' She asked curiously.

'That thing contaminating the line.' I replied with my teeth clenched, pointing in the direction of _her._ Jennifer hadn't noticed we were here yet. Lola's eyes widened, and she gritted her teeth.

'Fuck.' She stated simply.

Jack, Alex and Zack walked over and Alex's eyebrows immediately furrowed when he spotted my strained expression. Was the hatred that obvious on my face?

'What's up?' He asked, and Jack and Zack's eyes became concerned. I just pointed. Their reactions were exactly how I thought they would be. Rage filled their features.

To make matters worse, the person in front of Jennifer shifted slightly, and revealed who she was if. The one and only Ross. I didn't know they were a couple.

I was slightly surprised by Jack's reaction. His hands clenched into fists and he let out a hiss, his teeth blatantly gritted.

'That fucker.' He hissed, his eyes filled with fury.

'Whoah, calm the fuck down man.' Zack said, putting on hand on Jacks shoulder. Alex's jaw was locked tightly, his fury shining through in his eyes. Meanwhile, Lola turned to me.

'Do you want to stay?' she asked seriously, doubting that I would want to. She already at her phone out to call another taxi. But, I wasn't going anywhere. I needed to get over this and face it.

'No, I want to stay. Calm down Jack, they're not worth it. Alex, stop looking at me as if I'm crazy. Zack, stop looking at them as if you're going to throttle them and Lola, stop gaping at me.' I said quickly. They all smiled a little, and I grabbed Jacks arm wrapping mines tightly around it. 'You're my walking stick, remember?' I said, trying to distract his gaze from Jennifer and Ross, oblivious to the five angry people staring at them.

'I told you that the next time I saw him I would kill him.' He said quietly, still drawing daggers at them, but talking so that only I could hear, my heart warmed. He remembered.

'Well, I don't want you to go to jail so let's just settle for imagining killing him?' I joked, trying to lighten the mood. He sighed but nodded.

'Are you sure?' Alex questioned, silently furious. I nodded my head confidently; I couldn't keep running away from my fears. With my consent, Alex led our little group to the bouncers. He showed his drivers license and the bouncer nodded, letting us pass through without another question. Yey for being allowed in when you're under-aged.

The club was packed. The music beats seemed to make the room vibrate. I guess that's how it got it's name, Pulse. The dark dance floor was filled with drunken people that had finally mustered up the courage to go and dance. The bar was filled too, but I spotted a small booth-like seating area to the side of it and quickly dragged Jack to it, gesturing to Alex and the others to follow us. As we all plopped down on the seats, I let a wide smile replace my features. I didn't care if my ex-boyfriend and his whore were here. I was gonna have some _fun. _

'Okay, someone needs to buy us drinks!' Lola announced, smirking devilishly at the boys. I matched her grin.

'I don't want you drinking too much, Ruby.' Alex said worryingly. I rolled my eyes at him.

'Okay, _mom._ I said, sticking my tongue out childishly

'So what do you pretty ladies want?' Zack asked, rubbing his hands together excitedly. I grinned widely. Zack would get me alcoholic shit, he was nice like that.

'Er, vodka and cola please.' I said, smiling innocently at Alex as he shot me a look.

'Apple Martini.' Lola said, smiling up at Zack and fluttering her eyelashes. She definitely had the hots for him.

Zack blushed slightly, and walked away. I guessed Jack and Alex would have to get their own drinks. Jack's move opened in mock horror as he stared after Zack.

'The youths of today, so inconsiderate.' He sighed, shaking his head. I snorted at him, yes snorted.

'Jack, you're about a year younger than Zack.' I laughed.

'I aged prematurely.' He said gravely, putting his hand over his heart. I just laughed and nudged shoulders with him. Jack was a five year old stuck in a twenty two year olds body.

I stopped laughing abruptly as I saw Jennifer and Ross entering the club. I couldn't seem to draw my eyes away from their entwined hands. I hope they're happy together. I hope that the havoc they wreaked in other peoples lives made them happy. Tears pricked my eyes. Even though I was over him, it still hurt seeing him out with the girl he cheated on me for. They didn't see us.

Alex, seeing my gaze fixed on them put his arm around my shoulder and gave me a squeeze. I cuddled into his chest a little bit and smiled at him.

'I'm fine.' I said weakly, trying not to let the water that threatened to spill from my eyes, leak. The lie I told most often, I was almost sick of saying it. He gave me a look to say he knew I wasn't. I nodded, trying to smile at him before sitting back upright. Jack was grimacing at me sadly, and Lola was looking at me with pity in her eyes. I hated that, the pity. I didn't want pity from anyone.

'Guys, I'm fine.' I tried to say happily, but my voice broke halfway through making it sound unconvincing. They all shot me looks to say they didn't believe me, but didn't have time to respond as Zack came over with the drinks.

'Ooh yum,' I said, genuine happiness lacing my tone. I wanted more than ever to get piss-drunk now. As I took a sip, I looked up and saw Jennifer sitting at the bar, looking straight at me with a shit-eating grin on her face. I swallowed thickly, but glared at her with all the effort I could muster.

'I swear to fuck is she so much as says a fucking word to me tonight, I'm gonna re-arrange her face.' I growled, they all realised where I was looking and Alex arched his eyebrow at me, obviously thinking I wouldn't.

'Alex, don't think I'll even hesitate. I swear down.' The determination in my voice, made him realise I was actually serious.

'Ooh, can I help?' Lola said excitedly. She was just a little slow.

'Yes, dear. If you wish.' I said soothingly, patting her arm. She smiled happily, content and took a sip of her drink. Alex rolled his eyes at her. I was too used to it to care.

Three drinks later, when I was starting to feel a little buzz from the alcohol, 'I Kissed a Girl' by Katy Perry blasted through the speakers.

'Oh my god! I love this song!' Lola and I said in unison. Zack looked at us weirdly, and we just giggled. I grabbed Lola's hand and we made our way to the heaving dance-floor.

The floor was so packed, we were practically grinding into the people behind us, but we didn't care. We danced along to the beat of the music, letting our worries disappear and having the time of our lives. By the time the song had ended, we were almost in the middle of the dance floor, from being jostled about with the large crowd. I signalled to Lola to get a drink and she nodded, grabbing my hand and dragging us to the bar.

We both collapsed in bar seats, more people seemed to have gotten up to dance, leaving the bar practically empty. We were both sweating; dancing took a lot out of you especially with another 50 people around you taking up your oxygen.

'I'm going to the toilet,' Lola slurred, she'd maybe had a little bit more to drink than I had. That and she was an utter lightweight. Still, she managed to walk in her heels without stumbling. That took skill.

'Could I have a vodka and coke, please?' I said, fluttering my eyelashes at the barman and flashing a grin. Please don't id me, please don't id me, I thought desperately. I would be chucked out if he did, and the night was still young. He never and I grinned inwardly as I tried to look indifferent about my order being received. He went about his business making my drink and handed it to me.

'That's $4.00 ma'am.' He said with a Texan drawl. I handed him the money, and took a sip of my drink. I looked the bar-man over, he was quite nice looking. His long blonde hair flopped into his eyes a little, and his green eyes were pretty. He had a dark tan, and from what I could see, muscular arms. He wasn't what I liked, but I suppose he was nice. I sipped my drink and considered going back over to the table where I could see Jack, Zack and Alex laughing about something. It would beat sitting alone.

Just as I stood up, I felt a hand tap my shoulder. I whirled round, looking at the person seeking my attention. Anger filled my body, and my fists clenched automatically. Fucking Jennifer.

'What do you want?' I snarled, it was taking all my self-control not to punch her. She raised one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows at me.

'Now now Ruby, that's not a nice way to greet one of your old classmates.' She said grinning evilly at me. I exhaled slowly, gritting my teeth. I think I nearly broke a tooth. 'I just wanted to ask how you were coping, you know. After Ross cheating on you and everything, you're bound to be torn up.' She said with fake-sympathy, mischief glinting in her eyes. My hands clenched tighter, she just wants a reaction I thought.

'Yeah, with a fake slutty little whore.' I said sweetly.

'Hmm, I'm sure it was the best fuck of his life. I mean, it is me. Anyone would pick me over _you. _A stupid little bitch that thinks she's everything.' She sneered at me. As I had said to Alex earlier, I wouldn't hesitate.

I felt extreme satisfaction as my fist collided with Jennifer's face. She screamed in outrage and grabbed my hair, yanking it violently. I winced at the pain but grabbed her hair, pulling her down to the ground. Sitting on top of her, I continued to punch her face, getting all my anger out on her fake, plastic face. She got a few punches too, and I felt my lip bleeding profusely. It was my most proud, and least proud moment all rolled into one. It seemed to go on forever, even though we had been fighting for twenty seconds at the most.

Hands grabbed me from behind; pulling me up and back from Jennifer. A crowd had collected while we had been fighting. It was then I realised the tears streaming down my face. I recognised the smell of Jacks aftershave as I struggled against his grip, trying to get back to Jennifer so I could continue punching her face in.

'Ruby, calm the fuck down.' Jack shouted at me, serious for a change. I continued to struggle, and he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist as I tried to get away. It was then I saw Alex half running towards us.

'What the fuck happened.' He shouted in alarm. Why was everyone shouting at me? I had made good to my promise. He took in my tear-stained eyes and bleeding lip and looked at Jack for answers.

'I don't know I just saw her on top of Jennifer nearly killing her.' He said, clearly confused.

'I told you I would re-arrange her face if she said anything to me.' I spat out, still furious. We all watched as Ross appeared at Jennifer's side and helped her up. Her nose was bleeding furiously, and I could see a black eye coming on. I felt grim satisfaction.

'You stupid bitch!' Ross screamed at me as he supported Jennifer who was clutching her nose.

'What did you say?' Zack yelled over the music, fast approaching Ross who had paled slightly when he saw him. Zack's muscles were a little more than menacing. I couldn't hear what Zack was saying, put he was yelling at Ross like there was no tomorrow. Alex had went up to them too, screaming at Ross and clenching his fists.

'Shh Ruby, its okay.' Jack soothed me. I must have been crying quite loudly, I tried to swallow my sobs and act okay. Lola came towards us tottering in her heels.

'Bitch, you beat her up without me?' she shouted in outrage. She seemed to have sobered up a little. I smiled weakly, chuckling through my tears. I saw a bouncer approaching me, and sighed. This would be fun.

'Miss, you need to leave the club.' He said seriously, and I just nodded. It was inevitable. They didn't just let you stay in clubs after you'd had a cat fight.

'I can go myself, thanks.' I hissed as the man pulled me roughly out of Jack's grip and took a tight hold on my shoulder. I shrugged out of his grip and took Jack's hand. His touch seemed to calm me right now, and if I saw Jennifer again I would launch myself at her. Lola looked at our hands in confusion and raised her eyebrows at me, asking a silent question. I shook my head quickly.

It felt so right, my hand in Jacks. Even in this chaos. His large hand covered my tiny one, and he rubbed soothing circles into the side of my palm to try and stop me crying. To be honest, I didn't even know why I was crying anymore.

'I'm gonna go, er get Zack and Alex' Lola mumbled. I guess she was still allowed to be in the club because she hadn't been involved in the fight. She locked eyes with me for a second, and I knew she was trying to make it better for me. Jack dragged us out of the club, the security guard shadowing our every move until he felt we weren't anywhere near the club.

We stood across the road, waiting for everyone else to come out. I couldn't stop crying. I was pretty sure I looked a mess right now, mascara and tears didn't mix well.

We stood facing each other, me looking at the ground to try and hide the tears uselessly and Jack staring intently at me. A sob escaped me and he pulled me into a hug, sighing. He rocked us gently back and forth as I ruined his jacket. I had quite a hefty bill to pay for clothes; I had ruined far too many peoples over the past few months.

'Why are you crying?' he asked gently. I sniffed heavily burrowing my head into his chest. He gave the best hugs ever.

'Because I shouldn't have done that, it's only going to cause more trouble.' I said heavily, trying to stop crying. 'But, it was worth it. Just to see her bleeding.' I said grimly. It was the truth, but I was confused about what I had done. Really, I had stuck up for myself because if I hadn't hit her, she would have continued to call me the names that had once torn me down. And, I liked to keep promises.

He laughed at me, and I untangled myself from his arms.

'Sorry, I've got your jacket all snot and make-up.' I laughed, wiping the remains of the tears off of my cheeks.

'You're paying for the dry-cleaning, bitch.' He said, mock-glaring at me before giving me a goofy smile. I just laughed and gave him the finger.

'SIR, WATCH. CALM THE FUCK DOWN, I'M GOING. GOD.' I heard Alex shout as a security guard pushed him out of the club, and he stumbled almost falling. He was followed by Zack and Lola, who was screaming bloody murder.

'I SWEAR TO FUCK, IF YOU HAVE RIPPED THIS DRESS YOU'RE PAYING FOR IT.' She screamed. Jack and I just burst out laughing. Only Lola.

They crossed the road, a furious look on Lola's face as she muttered under her breath.

'What did she do?' I asked Alex, gesturing to Lola. She was lost in a world of insults.

'Started screaming at Jennifer and attempted to hit her, but Zack held her back. It was quite funny.' Alex said, chuckling although there was a strain in his tone.

'Are you okay?' he asked me, I just nodded and sniffed.

'You fucked her up pretty good, Rubster.' Zack said, smiling impishly at me, we done our special handshake and I laughed. Why was this making me feel better?

I watched as I saw Jennifer and Ross emerge from the club. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw her clutching a tissue to her nose, and a bruise blooming on her eye. They walked straight towards us and I crossed my arms, looking at them boldly. Jennifer's eyes narrowed at me, and they stopped right in-front of us.

'This isn't over, bitch.' Jennifer sneered. Ross looked at me with disgust in his eyes, but somehow it didn't seem right. There was something off about it.

'Oh fuck off, Jennifer. When you learn to fight, come back and say it isn't over, but until then, go rot in a hole with your scummy little boyfriend.' I couldn't even address Ross with his first name, he didn't deserve that.

She just flicked her hair and huffed, motioning for Ross to follow her down the street. No come-back I guess, too dumb for that. Ross's eyes seemed to harden, but still there was definitely something off. He was faking. And I should know, I had looked into those eyes for a whole year, and learned their meanings off by heart. He was most definitely faking.

'Keep your whore in order, Barakat.' He said deathly quiet, and I stood shell-shocked. Did he actually think Jack and I were dating. Then the rage came. How dare he?

'Excuse me, did you just actually have the nerve to calm me a whore, you filthy man-slut?' I shouted, while Jack shouted, 'What the fuck is that supposed to mean?' and Alex tried to launch himself at Ross, but was only stopped by Zack, swearing loudly and calling him every name he could think of, attracting attention from others waiting outside the club. Ross went to speak but I cut him off.

'And don't even bring Jack into this, it has nothing to do with him.' I cried, I walked forward and pushed him backwards. He stumbled slightly, and I poked a finger into his chest.

'You don't get to judge me anymore, Ross. You aren't worthy of that, you aren't worthy of judging anyone. You're just a little boy who can't keep it in his pants, and who's scared of commitment. Because that's what drove you to it, Ross isn't it? _Me.__' _I taunted him, whispering so it was only us that could hear. We were almost in the middle of the road now; he kept taking steps backwards, and I kept stepping forwards. I could see Jack hovering nearby, wanting to say something to Ross. I didn't know if he could hear us. In the background Ruby was shouting at Jennifer, and I could imagine Zack trying to stop her. Alex was standing beside Jack, ready to punch the fuck out of something, but right now, I didn't care. I had to say this, and get it off my chest.

'Because, really Ross, if I hadn't told you I loved you, you wouldn't have torn my heart to shreds, would you've? No, you would have kept our relationship going, along with the other ones. You didn't think that Ben missed them out, did you? You didn't think he wouldn't tell me _all_ of the relationships you had while we were a 'couple'.' I snarled the last word, gradually getting louder.

'Allyson, the casual little fuck to the side, Candy, the friend with _benefits, _Lucy, your parent's friends daughter. And of course, lets not forget ickle Jennifer. Your _prize _fuck.' I shouted the last words. Alex took a step forward, but I stopped him with a hand.

'No, let me finish.' I said determinedly. 'You just wanted someone to be there, someone to fool. You just wanted to feel the adrenaline rush of knowing that you weren't supposed to be with _her. _Whatever one. But, let me tell you this, Ross. You are nothing. You are absolutely nothing but a piece of dirt on someone's shoe. You no longer are worth it; you're no longer worthy of anyone's time. Because you lied. Not once, not twice, but a lot. More than a lot. Nobody likes a liar, Ross. And nobody likes a cheat. And I hope, that one day, you'll find a girl and you'll genuinely fall in love with her and then I hope she leaves. Leaves you with a broken heart, from falling in love too hard and too fast. Not, that I actually fell in love with you, no.' I laughed, tears falling now. Lola and Jennifer had stopped arguing and were listening in to my now quiet voice.

'I was a fool to think I had fallen for you, I was in love with the idea of being in love. But I hope you got a kick out of it, seeing someone fall. And if you ever fall? If you are ever torn apart? I hope someone kicks you in the stomach so you can't breath. Don't you ever think that you can call me a whore, Ross, when you are the biggest whore about.' I finished, panting. I felt so much better with that off of my chest. It was like a load lifted.

I walked away from him then, leaving him stunned in the middle of the road. Jennifer's mouth was agape as she took in my little speech, she shook out of it and stumbled towards Ross, still clutching her hanky.

'Oh, and Jennifer?' I called sweetly, she turned looking at me. 'Try to fall for him. See how it feels.' I watched them walk away, feeling proud of myself. I looked at Alex and Jack who were staring at me in shock.

'What?' I said innocently, 'I had to get it off my chest.' Alex chuckled at me and shook his head.

'Never, ever underestimate my sister.' He said. I laughed and poked him in the stomach.

'Too right, jackass. Now, I believe it's time to get properly wasted.' I said.

'Fuck yeah, I need about five beers before I even think about getting wasted.' Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck.

'Emotion overload, jack-o?' I laughed, he chuckled and looked me in the eye.

'Something like that,' he mumbled, before cracking a few jokes.

We got to Lola and Zack, and I spotted a bottle of Bacardi in Lola's hands.

'And why was I not informed of this bottles presence?' I asked seriously, hands on hips.

Lola bit her lip, before opening the bottle like lightning and trying to down the contents.

'No!' I screamed, wrestling for the bottle. 'Leave some for me!'

I practically wrestled her to the ground for the bottle, and when I successfully rescued it, held it in the air.

'You don't mess with the Gaskarth, baby!' I yelled, chugging down some of its contents.

Alex, Jack and Zack looked at us as if we were mad. They could say whatever they wanted I knew they were weirdos. They couldn't even begin to say Lola and I were crazier than them. Safe to say, that was the last thing I remembered.

**Okay, HI. I don't know how I feel about this chapter, its kinda meh. I'm sorry if it didn't live up to anyones expectations of drama, but I thought it was pretty dramatic when I was writing it. And this one's up early! I've been ill the past few days and I didn't know if I would be able to get it up on time, but I did! Just a little bit proud of myself. I hope you like it. But personally this isn't my favourite chapter. I think that Jack's too serious. WE NEED SOME FUN-LOVING JACKY! He will be unleashed in the next chapter, though. And Lola and Ruby's relationship was shitty in this too. Next chapter, next week.**


	5. Not On The Sofa

I felt like crying as my eyes were blinded by the bright light shining through my bedroom window at an odd angle. My head was throbbing and my throat was like sandpaper. Hangovers are the worst thing ever. I popped my head up to see what was happening and took in the sight around me, almost laughing.

I was lying at the wrong side of my bed, with the covers on the floor. Lola was spread eagled out in the middle of my bedroom floor, using one of my t-shirts as a blanket, and my room was basically more of a bombsite than it usual was. I was mostly laughing at Lola. She hadn't even made it to the bed.

That was before I heard a shrill cry that had probably woken me up.

'GASKANKS, ROBERTOID, MERRICKINS! TIME TO WAKE UP FUCKERS, I MADE BREAKFAST.' Jack cried loudly, from the bottom of the stairs. I groaned, and went to the right side of my bed grabbing a pillow and pulled my duvet over me again, fully intent on going back to sleep, and staying in my bed all day.

I heard footsteps thundering up the stairs, and before I knew it my room door had banged open and my covers had flown off of me, leaving me shivering on my bed.

'What the fuck, dude? Give me my covers.' I moaned, shivering and curling up in a ball. Jack stood at the bottom of my bed with a goofy smile on his face, my covers in his hand.

'Nope! You have to get up! I've made breakfast and everything.' He pouted, giving me his puppy eyes.

I moaned, and put my pillow over my head trying to sleep without my covers. I heard Jack come round to the side of my bed, and then there was silence. I was on edge, waiting for something to happen. Sure enough, it did.

'RUBY, GET UP!' he screamed, right at my ear. I screamed at the pain it sent through my head, and jumped up, throwing my pillow at him.

'How can you not have a hangover?' I groaned, he just shrugged and started poking Lola with his foot to get her up.

I dragged myself to the bathroom, looking down at what I was wearing. I had managed to pull an old 'I HEART NY' tee that was tattered and holey. It still went passed my thighs. I grabbed a pair of booty shorts before I went in, sniggering a little at Jack trying to get Lola up, but stopping when it made my head hurt even more. I would need to grab some Tylenol.

I looked like death warmed up. Honestly. I hadn't managed to wipe my make-up from last night, so it was smeared all over my face horribly. Great morning look. I washed my face, and brushed my teeth, pulling my shorts on.

When I got out of the bathroom, Lola was in my closet searching for something of hers she had left her to wear. She hadn't made it out of last nights clothes. She was grumbling to herself about being up too early, and silly over-grown boys waking her up.

'Morning, whore.' I yawned, checking my phone. I had two new messages, and yet another missed call from an unknown number. We hadn't been able to figure out who it was, so I had just gotten to the point where I would put my phone on vibrate. It was always in the early hours of the morning they called, yet they never spoke. My two messages were from Robbie and Annie, two of my friends.

**_From: Robbie _**

**_Hey gurl, how are you today? Working early shift in the mall this morning and saw Jeni-whore with a black eye! Laughed my ass off, xoxo _**

Robbie was one of my good friends. He was like one of the girls, always gossiping and talking about fashion. It wasn't a surprise to any of us when he announced he was gay two years ago.

What he wrote made me laugh. She had a black eye? Fuck yes.

'Hey, slut.' Lola said back, 'Can you remember anything from last night, apart from getting thrown out of that club because you kicked Jennifer's ass? She asked, pulling an article of clothing out of my overflowing wardrobe.

'Nope. But, Robbie's text and says she has a black eye.' I laughed, she snorted and started getting changed in front of me. We were best friends, we had seen it all.

I checked my text from Annie, who was just asking if I wanted to do something today. I replied quickly to the both of them before I headed downstairs and left Lola to get changed.

I walked sluggishly down the stairs, breathing in the aroma of pancakes. In the kitchen, Jack had my mom's 'Best Cook' apron on, with a floral pattern, and was bent over the cooker with a look of utter determination on his face as he tried to flip pancakes.

'I thought you said breakfast was ready?' I questioned, laughing at the look on his face. He shrugged.

'You Gaskanks take a while to get up. DONE!' he yelled, smiling proudly, and piled the pancakes onto a plate beside him.

'I'm impressed.' I admitted, going to the cupboard for a Tylenol for my bumping sore head. I swallowed it quickly, gulping down a glass of water after. I went to sit at the breakfast bar, as Alex wobbled in, collapsing at the counter with his head in his arms. He looked how I felt.

Jack sat the pancakes down in-front of us, standing proudly with his hands on his hips and smiling goofily.

'Thanks, Jacky' I said, grabbing the nutella that he had set down, and spreading it onto the pancakes. Alex remained face down on the counter.

'DUDE, WAKE UP. I'VE MADE YOU MOTHER-FUCKING PANCAKES.' Jack screamed, whacking Alex's head. I winced at the pain it caused and whacked Jack's arm, feeling proud when I heard a loud slapping noise.

'Shut the fuck up, man. Hangover, remember?' I whispered, clutching my head in my hands.

'Fuck off, Jack.' Alex growled, sitting up and taking a pancake. My brother was a grumpy motherfucker in the mornings.

Lola walked in as I returned to my pancakes. She looked half decent as she grunted a morning at Jack and Alex before grabbing two pancakes and putting them onto a plate. Jack was sitting on the kitchen counter eating his, swinging his legs annoyingly.

'Jack, stop.' I groaned, as the rhythmic thudding of his Nike's hitting the cupboard became too much for my head to bear.

The kitchen was silent except for the scrape of cutlery on plates.

'So, does anyone remember anything from last night?' I asked, curious as to what had happened after my drunken haze had blocked everything out.

'Yup.' Jack said, nodding and licking nutella off of his pancakes. Weirdo.

'Nope,' Lola and Alex said in unison.

'I can only remember coming out of the club, just before we got a cab.' I said, tiredly finishing my pancakes, and going to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I really wanted this hang-over to fuck off.

'I can remember coming home.' Jack said loudly, chewing on his pancakes noisily.

'You were both shit-faced.' He said pointing at Lola and I, 'And Alex and Zack weren't bad. I think Zack picked someone up actually.' He said thoughtfully, before a devilish smirk climbed onto his face.

'Let's go see. He never came for pancakes…' He said evilly, creeping into the living room where I guessed Zack was sleeping. I rolled my eyes. He was such a pervert at times.

When I heard the high-pitched squeal from what I could only guess was a girl, I decided to go see what was happening. Lola stayed at the counter, a sullen look on her face as she stabbed her fork into the pancakes violently.

'Whoah, chill man.' Alex said, surprised, looking at Lola with wide eyes.

'Yeah, sorry.' She mumbled, getting up quickly and retreating to the bathroom. I had to talk to her, soon.

I walked into the living room, and saw Zack and an unknown girl wrapped in a blanket. From the looks of it, it had been a wild night. On my sofa. Ew.

'Jesus, Merrick. Picking up girls and taking them to someone else's house? Classy.' I said sarcastically, covering my eyes from Zack's revealing body. The girl I saw, had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She was biting her lip anxiously, trying to cover herself up as much as she could as Jack ogled at her.

I walked over to him, and slapped him around the head for the second time this morning.

'Stop staring, you perv!' I said to Jack, before smiling sweetly at the girl.

'You can borrow some of my clothes if you want? And Zack, or my brother can take you home?' I said kindly, it must be kinda weird waking up in someone else's house, after being piss drunk the night before, and being surrounded by unknown people.

'Yeah, thanks.' She said nervously, awkwardly not knowing whether to stand up with the cover, leaving Zack butt naked or stay on the couch. I saw articles of clothing lying at the bottom of the couch and chucked them at Zack.

'Get dressed.' I hissed, kinda pissed at him for doing that to Lola. He must have known he liked her; she had been coming onto him most of the night from what I remembered. I took the girls hand and dragged her upstairs as Jack pranced around the living room chanting 'Zack got laid, Zack got laid.'

I brought her up to my room, and sat her down before getting her some clothes from my wardrobe. She was about the same size as me, so I just gave her a pair of my old jeans and a hoodie, I figured she could wear her shoes from last night, and her underwear.

'Can I use your shower.' She said embarrassedly, blushing and shifting in her towel. Poor thing. She was only about my age.

'Yeah, sure.' I said gesturing to the bathroom door. She nodded her head awkwardly before grabbing the pile of clothes from the bed and walking in.

I headed down straight away to the small bathroom Lola had barricaded herself in, and began battering on the door.

'Lola, open up!' I yelled, hammering my fists on the door when she didn't answer. I heard her sniffle from the inside, and nudged my hip against the door a few times, before it burst open with a loud bang. Being a ballet dancer had its plusses.

Jack poked his head out of the living room, wondering what the noise was all about. His mouth opened in awe when he saw me standing in the middle of the bathroom doorway, the bathroom door coming off the hinges a little bit.

'Jesus, I never knew woman could do that.' He said in shock.

'Sexist bastard.' I said sticking my tongue out at him before getting the bathroom door to shut as far as it would go. Lola was sitting on the toilet seat, clutching a bit of toilet roll. She laughed shakily wiping her eyes.

'Remind me to never attempt to run away from you.' She said as I enveloped her into a massive hug.

'Didn't you learn that in kindergarten when I found you 27 times in a row, straight when we played hide and seek?' I chuckled, letting her go. She rolled her eyes at me.

'You're never gonna let that go, are you?' She said sulkily. I shook my head happily.

'Nope.' I replied, laughing. 'Now, tell me what's up.' I said again, serious this time. I jumped up onto the bathroom counter, and wrapped my arms around my legs, preparing for the onslaught of information that Lola was surely about to spill.

'I remember some of last night,' she said wiping her eyes. Her blonde hair was pulled up out of her face into a messy ponytail. She had stopped crying now, and was looking a little better.

'Well, you and I got fucking out of our heads, and then I just remember being with Zack. You were off with Jack or something.' She said in a dismissive tone. My stomach filled with butterflies, so I had been with Jack most of the night? I smiled.

'And I can remember kissing him.' She said quickly.

'Holy fuck!' I shouted, completely not expecting that. I fell off of the counter a little bit. 'Are you kidding me on?' I said, shocked.

'Nope.' She said bitterly. I heard an intake of breath from outside the bathroom door, and sprinted to the door, just in time to see Jacks crazy hair disappear into the kitchen.

'I didn't hear anything!' he screamed as I chased him around the kitchen, and out of the door into the garden.

'You fat bastard! What the fuck, dude? Listening at doors?' I shouted, going after him. I didn't know what I was going to do when I caught him yet, but chasing him seemed like a good idea in the heat of the moment. That was before he jumped in the pool. That was the last thing I expected him to do. Fully clothed and everything.

When he re-emerged, he looked at me with a smug smile on his lips. Thinking I wouldn't jump in after him. He was wrong. I took a few steps back, jumping in elegantly. I came up to the top breathing heavily, and with a triumphant smile on my face. Jack was looking at me in shock, and I just lunged at him, landing on his back.

'Not cool man, not cool.' He spluttered as my weight landed on him.

'Now, why did you listen in to mine and Lola's conversation.' I asked, digging my nails into his shoulder.

'Fuck! That shit hurts!' he whined, moving his shoulders so that I would let go. I huffed.

'You're such a baby.' I moaned, while secretly shitting rainbows that I was in-fact on Jack Barakat's back.

'I just wanted to know what was going on.' He shrugged, before trying to turn round to look at me with an utter look of excitement on his face.

'So Zack and Lola kissed, huh?' he said excitedly, I jumped off his back, sighing and making my way to the side of the pool and jumping onto the side.

'Yup. But I guess something happened, because he went off with that girl.' I shrugged. He swam towards me, right in-front of my legs.

'I think they'd be a cute couple.' He said, his brown eyes warm and inviting.

'Aww! Look at Jacky getting all soft,' I squealed clasping my hands together.

'I am not soft!' He said stubbornly. I just splashed him with my legs, before getting up.

'I need to go talk to Lola,' I said smiling at Jack before blowing him a kiss. 'Don't miss me too much.' I teased, hoping that he would miss me for the half an hour I would be away.

He caught the kiss and pressed it to his cheek, and I nearly died. Did Jack just put my kiss on his cheek? Oh, my lord. I tried to walk away casually but my smile nearly split my face.

I walked into the kitchen, where Alex was currently eating every left-over pancake. He choked a little on his pancakes when he looked at me.

'You do know your shirts see through, right?' he asked, looking me over before returning to his breakfast.

'Fuck.' I simply stated, looking down. Thank god I had put a bra on this morning. Going into the pool with white on didn't work well. He laughed at me, before choking on his pancakes again.

'That's what you get!' I said skipping upstairs to get changed, before I spoke to Lola. I just put on another pair of pyjamas before going back into the downstairs bathroom. The unknown girl was still in the shower. As I walked into the bathroom, I wondered how I was going to tell my parents about the busted door.

Lola looked at me as I came back in and resumed my position on the counter.

'Why's your hair wet?' she asked curiously. I just shrugged.

'Chased Jack into the pool. Anyway, you kissed Zack?' I said, wanting to return to the bigger issue.

'Well, he kissedme.' she said, and I just rolled my eyes. 'But yeah, and then he pulled away and said he really liked me. I was kinda out of it, so I didn't reply and then he muttered something and walked away. Next thing I know, he's cooped up with some other girl after a wild night of non-stop sex.' She sniffled. 'I meant to tell him I liked him, I do like him. Like, a lot. But now, I don't know what's going to happen. I mean he was obviously just caught in the moment, because if he did like me, he wouldn't go off and fuck some other girl.' She sobbed the last part, and I jumped off of the counter and gave her a massive hug.

'I'm going to kill him.' I said simply.

'Don't say anything,' she said, fixing me with her stare to show me she was serious. 'I don't want him knowing I was like this about it. Just leave it be.' She said exhaustedly. I bit my lip, trying to weigh the pros and cons of it, before I sighed and nodded. I was sighing a lot today, and it was only early.

'Now leave me be woman, 'til I sort myself out.' she said, shooing me out of the bathroom. I gave her a quick peck on the cheek before I went into the living room where Alex was watching old Doctor Who re-runs.

'Do you know where Zack is?' I asked calmly, planning to draw the eyes off of him and tell him that he could take his one night stand home himself.

'He's went already.' Alex said, engrossed in Doctor Who, then he seemed to remember something. 'Hey, isn't that chick still upstairs?' he said. My brother was such a thicko.

'Yes, yes she is Alexander.' I said. 'That fucker, I'm going to kill him. Well, it looks like you're taking the girl home.' I sighed. Why couldn't I drive yet?

'Oh no I'm not.' He argued,

'Well who's going to take her home? I'm not letting her go home in a cab, I mean her one night stand just abandoned her at a stranger's house, it's not fair.' I said exasperatedly.

'I'll take her.' Jack offered, emerging from the kitchen still soaking wet, his joggers and black tee sticking to him. I blushed slightly, remembering earlier.

'Yeah, well if you're taking her, I'm coming with you. You were the perv checking her out.' I said, sighing internally. That would mean actually getting dressed.

I sent Zack a quick text.

**_To Zack:_**

**_I hate you. _**

Right now, there was some sentiment to my sentence.

**Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I am absolutely terrible. That's like three weeks without an update D: and this chapters a shitty filler! Sorry guys. This chapter's really short too, I couldn't get into it. I hope you enjoyed the fun Jack at the beginning though, and Ruby and Jack's relationship is actually going somewhere! I have big plans for this story, so stay tuned. And omg DIRTY WORK COMES OUT TOMORROW! No idea how excited I am. Thank you for reviews and messages, they make me feel all warm inside. I think the stories coming together a bit more now, and I know you most probably wouldn't imagine Zack doing that, but remember this is a fan-fic so anything can happen. I'm not going to give a time for the next chapter, cause I really screwed up with the last one and when I would publish it, so let's just say soon, okay? And that reminds me, my laptop is going away to get some of the data fixed this wednesday, so the next update probably won't be for a little while. I won't abandon the story though, I really enjoy writing it. See ya soon.**


	6. Arrogant Asses and Double Cheeseburgers

Chapter Six

I sat awkwardly in the car, fiddling with the stereo as I waited for Jack to get into the car and take Louise – whose name I had just found out, home. He was currently sulking in the house because his favourite Blink tee had shrunk when he jumped into the pool. And, I was getting the blame for it.

Yeah, apparently it was my entire fault that he had the spontaneous idea to jump into the pool, resulting in the both of us getting soaked. Yup, all my fault. I put the imperius curse on him. Really, I wasn't in the mood for shit today so I had snapped back at him, beginning a ten minute argument that Alex had to break up. I was still pissed at him, he was being an annoying prick, and he knew fine well it wasn't my fault that his shirt got ruined. Just because I had a crush on him, didn't make him any less annoying.

The car was filled with an awkward silence, only broken by the sound of either of us moving, and the soft music coming from the stereo. Finally, I could see Jack strolling casually out of the house, moving as slow as anything. Whore. He was probably doing it on purpose.

I heaved a sigh of mixed relief and annoyance as he got into Alex's car and started it up immediately. I turned around in my seat, giving Louise a small smile.

'So, where do you live?' I asked softly, trying to be nice about the whole thing. I really didn't know how to treat her. She didn't seem like one of the usual whores that Jack or Zack would bring home after a night-out, she seemed more normal, not as if she was doing it because they were kinda famous. Trust me, I'd had to deal with my fair share of whores after nights-out. Most of them were nasty bitches, that only got nastier when I had to be the one to tell them it was just a one night stand. Yup, the deal you get when you're friends with guys. Breaking up with their not-so-permanent girlfriends.

'16AAitker Lane.' She said quietly. I had no clue in fuck where that was, so I turned to Jack and asked him if he knew where it was.

'Yeah.' He said curtly, pulling out of the drive-way and turning the stereo up so that it was almost impossible to try and make conversation. Everything was fine, until Blink came on. Fuck you, iPod.

'Need to get a new fucking shirt now,' I heard Jack mutter, and I exploded.

'Stop being a little bitch about it Jack! You were the one that jumped in the fucking pool first, so don't go blaming me for your stupid ideas.' I said loudly, not quite shouting.

'Jeez, so I can't even say what I want now?' he said furiously, venom in his voice. I just huffed and looked out of the window the rest of the journey. I was dreading the journey back, when we would be on our own.

We drove down random roads for at least ten minutes. God was seriously out to get me today. Why couldn't she just live 5 minutes away instead of a 20 minute drive? That would mean a longer time alone with Jack. Normally I would be excited about that, but today he was acting like a dick, and really I wasn't in the mood for his shit. My head bounced as houses past in a blur of mundane colours. Finally, thank god, Jack stopped the car outside an apartment block. Louise quickly got out, and before shutting the door thanked us both, and then turned to me.

'Em, do you think you could give this to Zack?' she said quietly, holding out a small strip of paper. My heart went out to her, poor girl. Another victim to the boys mindless flings. I took the number smiling kindly at her and nodding a little. I knew already that he wouldn't call her, and she would sit by her phone for days waiting for him to do it. I had too much experience with these boys and their antics. I don't think they realised that they could break a girl's heart so easily. She gave me a genuine smile, before skipping up the pavement to her apartment. I hoped she hadn't fallen too hard.

I sighed and clutched my head in my hands; my headache really was getting out of hand. And I couldn't even take any more Tylenol unless I wanted to pass out. I let out a small groan before sitting back up and closing my eyes. I could just pretend I was tired and then Jack and I wouldn't have to make any conversation at all that would result in yet another argument.

Still, even with my eyes closed, the silence was as awkward as ever. And to top it all off, he was making ME feel guilty, I hadn't even done anything! It got to the point where I actually believed it was my fault that I ruined his shirt. I opened one eye, and sneaked a look at him. He was concentrated on the road, not even looking in my direction. Another ten minutes passed before I finally caved, and spoke to him.

'Are you mad at me?' I said in a quiet voice, looking directly at him. I hated feeling guilty. He looked at me quickly, with an unreadable look on his face.

'No. I know it was my fault the shirt got ruined.' he said before looking back at the road.

'Then why aren't you talking to me?' I said, outraged. He just smiled the smile that I loved and shrugged his shoulders.

'You're funny when you're mad.' He said simply. I punched his shoulder, and muttered 'Dick' under my breath. He had me worried and everything. He smiled widely, turning a corner.

I closed my eyes again; the silence in the car was comfortable now that we had sort of made up. I almost fell asleep when Jack was shaking me roughly; I groaned and turned over in the car seat, trying to get back to the wonderful between sleep place.

'Fuck off, Jack. I'm too tired.' I moaned, he just laughed.

'What do you want from McDonalds?' he chuckled, getting out of the car.

'McDonalds?' I said, sitting bolt upright in my seat. It was a whole different matter when McDonalds was mentioned. He laughed at my reaction.

'Double cheeseburger large meal with a chocolate milkshake, please.' I said, giving him a goofy grin. He returned my smile, and before shutting the door, made me pout.

'Don't break the car.' He said, quite seriously. Everyone knew I was a klutz, and since I had broken my mom's car, no-one had let it go. I only tried to take it for a ride; it wasn't my fault I forgot to take it out of first gear. I pouted at him and crossed my arms. He slammed the door shut and walked over to the familiar looking restaurant.

I put my mirror down, checking my appearance. I looked terrible, I had yet to put any make-up on because I had only shoved my Never Shout Never jumper on with a crop top and a pair of joggers to take Louise home. My hair was tangled up in a bun with my fringe pinned back in a sort of side quaff. Yup, I was a mess. I put the mirror back up and turned the radio up full blast, Framing Hanley '23 Days' was playing, and I danced the dance that Lola and I had made up. Talking about Lola, I pulled my phone out. She was in the house with Alex. I was hoping Alex would keep the calm in the house, but he would probably start the arguments. I hoped Lisa came over. He was always so much mellower when she was there. Looking at my phone, I saw I had a message from her.

_ From: Lola _

_I'm going to tear the hair off of that arrogant asses head, and then make your brother eat it. And then kick them both in the balls and throttle them. Hurry up, before my fantasies become reality. _

I snorted at the text, Zack must have come back. Alex was generally just an annoying person, so it was nothing new. I sent her a quick text back,

_To: Lola_

_I'm gonna take extra-long now. Kill Alex first will ya? _

I saw Jack walking back with the bags of food and bounced on my seat excitedly, headache forgotten. When he got in, I almost jumped him to get my bag of food.

He looked at me with wide eyes. I looked back at him, blankly.

'What? I'm hungry.' I said, digging in to my burger.

'We had breakfast an hour ago.' He said, shaking his head.

'I'm still hungry.' I said shrugging. 'And anyway, you've got as much as I got.' I said pointing at the food sitting on his lap.

'But I'm a man.' He said, as if that dismissed it.

'Jack Bassam Barakat, stop being a sexist pig.' I said eating my burger. He rolled his eyes at me before eating his Big Mac.

Half an hour later, we drew up in-front of the house. Alex was sitting out the front with a bowl of Fruit Pebbles munching furiously. I swear to God that was all he ate. Cereal and noodles. I sent a confused look to Jack and he just shrugged, obviously not knowing what was happening. I got out quickly, walking up to Alex. I heard Jack locking the car and following me.

'Why are you sitting out here?' I questioned him, a little worried. Where the fuck was Zack and Lola?

''Zack came back, and him and Lo were arguing.' He shrugged. 'I just wanted to eat my cereal.' He sounded so childish when he said it; I just patted his head and went into the house. At least Lola hadn't killed him.

'Lola?' I called out, 'Where the fuck are you?' I checked in the kitchen, nothing. Bathroom, nothing. Living room, nothing. I walked slowly up the stairs and then checked my room. The sight before me scarred me for life.

'EW.' I yelled, covering my eyes up immediately. I had walked in on Lola and Zack in the middle of a heated making-out session. Zack's hand had wandered up her shirt, and his shirt was on the ground. 'FOR FUCK'S SAKE, CAN I GET A LITTLE WARNING? JESUS CHRIST, IN MY ROOM AND EVERYTHING? I THOUGHT YOU TWO HAD FALLEN OUT?' I cried, backing out into the hallway, my eyes still covered.

'Sorry Rubz,' Lola said sheepishly,

'Yeah, yeah.' I slammed my door shut, and ran downstairs to Jack jumping into his arms.

'I've just been scarred for life,' I said dramatically, hiding my face in his chest.

'What happened,' he said curiously, wrapping his arms around me. I smiled into his chest.

'Zack and Ruby. Making out. In my room.' I said, cringing.

'No fucking way, really?' he said before letting me go and sprinting upstairs. I heard a few whoops from Jack as he obviously saw Zack and Lola. I rolled my eyes. I think he was the biggest pervert I knew. He walked downstairs with a smile on his face, shaking his head.

'You know you're the biggest pervert ever, right?' I said raising an eyebrow at him.

'I know,' he said contently. 'Who would have thought it? Zack and Lola, I thought they had fallen out?' he asked me. I shrugged my shoulders.

'So did I, apparently not. But, I'll find out soon, Lola Roberts is going to spill.' I said determinedly. I was going to squeeze every ounce of gossip out of her.

'I'll get Zack to spill, report back here later?' he asked. Sometimes, he was such a girl. I nodded.

'It's a date.' He grinned. I blushed furiously but hid it by turning to the stairs and screaming up to Lola.

'Lola Rosanne Roberts, get your ass down these stairs right now. We're going a walk! Don't make me come up there!' I threatened. I knew she knew I was serious, and a few seconds later she stumbled downstairs.

'I'm coming, I'm coming.' She mumbled. I grabbed her arm tightly, and smiled almost painfully at Jack and Alex who had appeared inside, his cereal finished.

'We'll see you boys later,' I said quickly, before dragging Lola out of the house. When we were a few streets away, I confronted her.

'What the fuck, Lola? This morning you were crying over him sleeping with another girl, and the next thing you're almost fucking in my room!' I cried. She grimaced at me, shooting me a glare.

'Let me explain.' She sighed.

'Please.' I said crisply. I was pissed off that she had let Zack in so easy after him clearly hurting her last night and this morning.

'Well you took the whore home,' she said, and I cut her off quickly.

'She wasn't a whore. She seemed quite nice, actually.' I said. The look Lola sent me told me to stop talking if I wanted to have a tongue.

'You took the girl home, and I got cleaned up and stuff. Alex was watching Doctor Who re-runs and then suddenly Zack was there. And he tried to kiss me, and I got angry, like really fucking angry, I mean he just slept with some slut and then expected me to kiss him? Nu-uh. Anyway, I started yelling at him, telling him he shouldn't be fucking with my feelings like that, and he got angry too, saying it was my fault, and that I had rejected him. So I told him how I felt, and I was still really fucking angry, and then he kissed me. And it was just fucking amazing, and we got a little carried away, and then you walked in and ruined the moment.' She said glaring at me. I bit my lip sheepishly.

'Oops.' I said, smiling a little. It wasn't as bad, now that she had it explained it.

'Yeah, oops indeed. But I don't know where we are now, I mean we can't exactly be in a relationship, we've only kissed twice. I don't even know how he feels.' She said, sighing. I took her hand.

'Just take it slow.' I said, before we looped round the block and made our way home. We laughed at the funny looks we got from old ladies walking down the street. They obviously thought we were a lesbian couple or something.

When we got to the house, Jack, Alex, Zack and Rian were there, playing video games.

'Hey dudes.' I called. I got a few muttered heys back and rolled my eyes. They got way too wrapped up in video games. I could beat every single one of them at them, without getting as absorbed. 'Lola and I are going upstairs to have lesbian sex, okay? Have fun with the video games!' I called skipping upstairs. The noise of the video game suddenly stopped and I heard Alex saying 'ew' loudly. Rian, Jack and Zack all ran out into the corridor excitedly.

'For real?' Jack said hopefully, I just rolled my eyes at him.

'Nah, I'm just gonna pack for Warped. Just wanted your attention!' I said cheekily, winking at Jack. 'I'm ashamed of you, Rian. You're in a relationship and everything.' I said, faking disappointment. He just stuck the finger up at me, which I returned, before pulling Lola up the stairs to save her from the awkward eye contact with Zack. They would really have to talk soon, before Warped.

'Okay, where do you want to start?' Lola said brightly, heading to my wardrobe. Excitement filled my stomach as I thought about the summer ahead. Warped was only a few days away, and then I would be free for the best of two months. So many things could happen…

**Hello there, my dearies. So, be very proud that I got this one up. I typed it up in a day, because I didn't want to leave you guys hanging! I feel so bad about the lack of updates lately. The summer holidays are starting soon, so I'm gonna be writing a whole lot more then. My laptops working again, at long last I'm so glad! This is yet another shitty filler, but I'm going to start writing the next one tonight. It's gonna be the first day of Warped, so prepare yourself for some B&C action! I know I've spoke about Zack and Lola a lot in the past few chapters, but they are VERY IMPORTANT to the story, and I'm planning a sequel so they are a big link in it. But, come on, you have to admit they're cute! And Jacky and Ruby are getting closer too. The story's coming along! And I'm still enjoying writing it, so don't worry about me stopping. Until next time lovelies! **

**Uh, also i'm gonna give you my twitter, tumblr and polyvore links, so if you have any questions just drop me a mention/question. **

**www . twitter. com /#!/itsrebeccaaaa**

**www. opp0sitesdistracts . tumblr .com/**

**www. polvore .com/cgi/profile?id=2488783**


	7. The Butt Crack of Dawn

Chapter Seven

A crushing weight landed on me waking me out of my amazing dream. Christofer Drew and I were going to get tattoos together, and he was about to announce his undying love for me, when my brother decided it would be fun to land on top of me.

'Alex!' I moaned, trying to wriggle out from underneath him as he lay casually on top of me. 'Go away! Let me sleep, I'm too tired.' I mumbled, finally getting out from under him, and shoving him over a bit on the bed so I could stay snuggled under my covers.

'As much as I would love to, dear sister, we have a tour to go on.' He said, sitting up and patting my head. 'C'mon, I'll come in again in ten minutes to make sure you're up. We need to leave soon.' He kissed my forehead and walked out my room shutting the door gently. My brother could be sweet when he wanted to be. I rolled over in my bed, rubbing my eyes and checking my phone. I groaned when I saw the time.4.00 am, way too early.

I forced myself to get out of my comfy nest, and get dressed. I had laid my outfit out the night before, thank god. If I hadn't, I probably would have cried about the amount of energy I would have to use. A few fumbling minutes later, my clothes were on. There was no point even wearing make-up today. I was just going to get on the bus and sleep anyway. I pulled my hair up into a messy ponytail with my fringe down, and voila I was ready. I just had to wash my face and brush my teeth. I'd showered the night before, knowing that it would be almost unbearable to shower so early.

I heard a quiet knocking on the door before I heard Alex calling gently.

'You up, Ruby?' he said, and I called back just as quietly. I didn't know why we were talking this quietly; we were the only ones in the house, excluding Lisa who had stayed the night to see Alex off in the morning.

'Yeah.' I said, before going into my bathroom to wash my face and do my teeth. I grabbed my suitcase and headed out my door, looking back at my room. It would be the last time I saw it for the next month. I would miss my beautiful double bed, and my wardrobe. And my balcony. And everything else.

I shut the door tight behind me, and lugged my suitcase downstairs. Lisa was waiting at the front door her jacket wrapped around her tightly. She looked sad, massive bags framed her eyes and a permanent grimace tugged on her lips. It must be hard for her, having a relationship with someone that was barely home, was constantly surrounded by girls that threw themselves at him, and living a lifestyle that basically consisted of him being drunk 24/7. You would worry yourself sick if your boyfriend lived a life like that, constantly on edge, not knowing what to think. It would be hard.

She gave me a little smile as I reached the bottom of the stairs and plonked my suitcase down beside Alex's. They were almost the same size; mine only a little bit bigger. Gaskarth's don't travel light.

'Morning.' I said tiredly, sitting down on the stairs with my head in my hands. I seriously wasn't cut out for all these early mornings. I needed my rest.

'Morning.' She replied, smiling at my current state. Alex came out of the kitchen, clutching three Pop-Tarts and handed one to Lisa andI.I ripped mine open and dug into it, relishing the strawberry flavour.

'C'mon, time to go.' Alex said, ushering us out of the door and locking it behind us. The cold night air made me shiver as I waited for Alex to unlock the car. He was taking his sweet time, walking with his arm draped around Lisa. I decided to let it go, seen as they didn't have much time left together. It was kinda cute. The doors were unlocked, the bags stuffed into the boot, the heating on full blast, and we were on our way to Jack's. Lisa had called shotgun, so I was sprawled out in the back, hoping to sleep during the half hour drive to the tour bus. Jacks car had broken down, so really Alex had been his chauffer for the past few weeks.

We pulled up outside the Barakat residence, and saw a tall figure standing outside shivering. Guess he didn't want to wake his mom and dad up. Jack put his bag in the boot before getting into the back seat shivering. He moved my legs immediately, and I pouted at him. He just rolled his eyes at me and latched himself onto my side cuddling into me.

'Jack, get off! I'm trying to sleep.' I moaned, quietly happy about the whole arrangement. 'Jesus, you're freezing!' I said, flinching when his freezing fingers touched my arm.

'No,' he muttered, cuddling closer into me. I rolled my eyes at him and rearranged myself so that I was cuddling into his chest, and I could maybe, just maybe get to sleep.

'Aw,' Lisa said looking back at us cuddled up together. 'You look so cute!' she said clutching her hands together excitedly. I blushed furiously, avoiding her adoring stare.

Alex looked at us in the wing-mirror and grumbled to himself.

'No funny business, Barakat.' He said gruffly, re-adjusting himself in his seat and shooting an evil glare at Jack. I blushed even more, if that was possible.

'Shut up, Alex. We're cuddling, friends can do that you know?' I said, before cuddling into Jacks chest more. He tightened his grip on me and rested his head on mine. I had to say, I felt safe and protected like this. I knew Jack couldn't fight or defend for shit, but it was just comforting, it gave me the feeling that I was loved. Friends did this, right? Jack wouldn't be doing this if friends didn't do this, because god knows, he didn't have feelings for me. The thought hurt me a little, but I let it go and fell asleep on Jack's chest.

'Ruby, wake up. We're at the bus,' Jack said softly, shaking me a little. I could hear his heartbeat throbbing through the thin material of his hoodie.

I muttered something incoherent and sat up rubbing my eyes to try and make myself a little more alert. I seriously needed coffee, or something with caffeine in it.

'You look adorable when you've just woke up.' Jack said quietly, before biting his lip as if he hadn't meant to say anything. I went tomato red and blew it off, scrambling quickly out of the car. Alex was struggling to get the suitcases out of the boot. Honestly, he was the weakest fucker around. I lifted mine out effortlessly, and walked over to where the rest of the band and crew were standing.

'Ruby!' I heard Vinny yell, spreading his arms open. I ran at him and gave him a massive hug.

'I haven't seen you in an age!' I said excitedly, beaming up at him. I was the smallest on the tour. Forever 5"2.

'I know, little lady! It's been too long.' He said pulling me into another bone-crushing hug. I was passed round each member of All Time Low's crew, until I reached Rian.

'Ah, what the heck I haven't seen you in two days.' I said wrapping my arms round him and giving him a bear hug. He spun me round and I squealed. I forgot how much I loved these people. When I saw Rian's girlfriend, Kara, I launched myself at her. Now, I hadn't seen her in ages.

'Hey, baby-girl! Where've you been at?' she yelled, giving me a massive hug. I thought my ribs were going to break, from the amount of hugs I had received in the past ten minutes.

'Home! I've missed you dearie! I haven't seen you in an age!' I squealed, taking in her appearance. She was looking gorgeous, even at four in the morning.

We talked for the next five minutes before Matt called out to everyone that the bus would be leaving in ten minutes. I decided to give Rian Kara back, and put my bag away.

You could tell who was in a relationship and who was single. All the singletons were standing awkwardly at the side of the bus, watching the loving couples say their goodbyes to each other. It was kind of heartbreaking to watch. Lisa was crying, and Alex was wiping her tears, mumbling softly to her. Would that be what it would be like if I ever in a million years date Jack? Would it be that hard to watch him go? Of course it would be. Couples aren't supposed to be separated for a long period of time.

Finally we all went onto the bus, waving furiously at the ones left behind as the bus sped away. Alex looked so down, so I went over to him and gave him a big massive hug. I hadn't hugged him in a while, it felt nice. He kissed my hair and walked over to the bathroom. I swear to God I saw him wipe a tear away, but maybe it was just me imagining things. I went to the bunk area, wanting to see where I would be sleeping for the next month. Matt or someone had stuck a piece of paper with everyone's names on the bunks.

I was right up the back of the bunk area, across from Jack, below Alex and sharing the same bunk wall as Danny. I was happy about where I was, these dudes were cool, and Alex was above me if I ever needed anything.

I face-planted my bed straight away, lying on the bare mattress and thinking about how I could get away with just going to sleep right now when Evan called on me.

'Hey Ruby, your duvet's through here come get it before Jeff falls asleep on it.' He called through the bus, and I groaned, dragging my feet as I walked through to the front lounge. Everyone was moving around now trying to get their bunks sorted so they could get to sleep as quickly as possible. Sure enough, when I went through, Jeff was lying across one of the sofas with three duvets over him. I grabbed the one with the label 'Ruby' on it and took it back to my bunk with the two pillows I had sat on the small table.

Now for putting the sheets on, I thought miserably as I sat everything down on my bed. By now, Alex, Danny, Jack and Zack, who was on the bunk above Jack were all on their bunks, trying to get their shit ready.

'Hey roomies.' I said flashing them a quick smile, before heading into the back lounge where all the suitcases had been shoved in. I collected my sheets from my suitcase along with my pyjamas, toiletry bag and book I had been reading, just in-case.

I made my bed up quickly, snickering as the boys took ages trying to put the duvet in and match up the corners. I ended up having put Alex's on for him. He was useless at household things; I swear I didn't know how he was going to cope when he lived himself. I pinned up a few pictures of my friends and I, mostly me and Lola, my Glamour Kills poster, and finally a photo of me with all the band and crew.

It was taken last year when I was still a junior. It was a cute picture. I was on Alex's back, Jack on Zack's and everyone crowded around us, making funny faces. I remember that day. It had been a great one; I forgot how much fun it was hanging about with the whole gang. It had been a while since we'd done that. I'd been busy for the past year with graduation, and the boys had been on tour almost non-stop. It would be nice to actually catch up with them, and relax for a month.

'MEETING IN THE FRONT LOUNGE, MOVE YOUR ASSES.' I heard Flyzik yell and the boys immediately dropped their stuff and ran to the front lounge, calling dibs on seats. I slowly walked in knowing it would be hopeless to even attempt to get a seat. When I walked in, every seat was taken, the boys jammed in against each other, muttering about someone having more room than them. I snapped a picture of them all; limbs tangled, and took a seat on the make-shift table. Matt was standing in the middle of the lounge and it took me a minute to realise the bus had stopped. Shows how awake I was.

'Okay, I need to lay down a few rules before we get out at services.' Matt said, eyeing every single one of the boys. I snickered quietly, and Jack stuck his tongue out at me childishly.

'First things first, no-one is to bring ANYONE back to the bus who isn't in one of the bands on Warped, who lives on the bus, or is part of the Warped festival.' Everyone nodded, and Matt continued.

'No one uses the toilet on the tour bus, 'cause we all know what happens when the toilet gets blocked.' Everyone snickered and Matt raised an eyebrow. 'Everyone's to be back at the bus by 12a.m sharp, and if you're not, we're leaving your ass behind. And finally, please, please, please try and keep the bus tidy?' he begged. Everyone nodded numbly, before Matt dismissed us all.

'Be back here by 5.30 it's a straight trip to Warped from here on, 6 hour journey.' Everyone scampered off of the bus quickly in the direction of the services, and half an hour later everyone was back. I had stocked up on pop tarts and twinkies for the long trip to Warped, I knew I was probably gonna sleep the whole way, but I didn't know when I would be at services next.

Everyone was half sleeping, as we stumbled around the bus. I got changed into my pyjamas quickly and snuggled down into my bunk. Matt had told us the heating was broken, so it would be chilly at night. Well, it was sure living up to his expectations.

I left my curtain open a little bit and watched everyone walk past, finally half an hour later, everyone began to settle down, just as dawn was about to break.

'Night guys,' I mumbled to the people around me, and it was repeated throughout the bus. I pulled my curtain shut, and fell asleep, looking forward to my first official day of Warped.

Hey der guys! I swear to god you all hate me and don't want to comment :C but anyway, i was kind to you and gave you a short update! i think this is my shortest chapter i've written so far, but don't hate me! i just wanted to give you a little something to keep you going for the next few days. i promise the next chapter will be longer, and it'll probably include some new bands! ^.^ i hope you liked it anyway, there wasn't much Ruby - Jack in this one, there wasn't much anything really, but meh. it's a chapter! until next time my minions.


	8. The Douche That Suddenly Appeared

_From: Lola _

_ I miss you already. 30 days 6 hours until I get to see you again. Is it sad that I counted? Robbie's annoying me already. He's too gay. I need someone butch, like you. But anyway, enjoy your first day of Warped, whore. Buy me merch, take pictures for me, and don't find a new best friend. You know the drill :) bye smelly xoxoxo _

I smiled at the text. Only Lola. I missed her too, a lot. I didn't know how I was going to cope for a whole month away from her. A fuck load of skyping, texting and phone-calls would have to do until the 23rd of August.

I'd been awake for a while now, listening to the chugging of the tour bus as it made its way to the first date of Warped. We should be here any minute.

I felt groggy and tired as I rubbed my eyes. I had only had about 4 hours sleep, the guys on this tour sure knew how to snore. I'd had Alex's grunting snores above me the whole journey, I usually never heard him in the house, what with sleeping at separate ends of the hallway, so I didn't know how I was going to survive with it for the rest of the month, I'd probably have to plug my ears or choke him to death. Choke him to death, preferably.

You would have thought with Jack's abnormal sized nose, he would have been snoring like hell, but he hardly made sound just kinda snuffling sounds sometimes. It was the cutest thing ever.

Zack was snoring like a fog-horn. It was terrible. I would have to go to bed earlier than all the others if I even wanted to sleep at night. The others were just as bad as Zack and Alex were. I was destined to sleepless nights this tour, and not because I was getting any action.

I decided it was time to get up, and slowly shuffled out of my bunk, taking my blanket with me. I needed coffee, urgently. I tried to stay as quiet as possible as I made my way out of the bunk area.

I was surprised, though I shouldn't have been when I saw Matt already in the lounge, laptop powered up and he was typing away quickly. He looked up quickly, flashing me a grin.

'Hey Ruby,' he said, before returning to the laptop probably typing up All Time Low's Warped schedule for the next few days. Something like that anyway. I gave him a short 'hey' between my yawns before heading straight to the make-shift kitchen, and flicking the kettle on. I grabbed my mug from the cupboard I had put it in the night before, and poured out my coffee.

'Hey Matt? Is there any milk?' I asked desperately. I wasn't really keen on taking my coffee without milk.

'Nope. We haven't bought any food for the bus yet, really.' I sighed inwardly. Great, black coffee. I found some sugar sachets, thank god. If there hadn't been any sugar I think I would have flung myself from the bus window.

I made my coffee, and went back into the front lounge, sitting across from Matt at the small table. He gave me a small smile; he was on the phone to some guys from Warped I guessed, talking about how the equipment would be transferred from the bus to the venue. Boring stuff.

I took a sip of my hot coffee, and turned on the television, putting it down low so as not to disturb Matt on the phone. Spongebob Squarepants was on and I hummed along to the familiar theme tune, wrapping my blanket around me and settling down with my coffee, which was really fucking strong when I thought about it.

'Okay, equipment transfer, sorted.' Matt said mostly to his self, jotting down in his notebook something. My stomach grumbled and I pouted at Matt giving him my puppy dog eyes.

'McFlyzik, when can we get food?' I said, rubbing my stomach and making my voice sickly sweet. He was used to my antics, like most of the band and crew so he continued writing in his notepad, shaking his head.

'When everyone else is up.' He said, without looking at me. He knew that if he looked at me, he would be forced to buy me food.

'Can I go wake them up?' I said hopefully, I was so hungry I was willing to face the wrath of 12 tired boys.

He lifted his hands up in surrender, finally looking at me with amusement in his eyes.

'I had nothing to do with this.' He said, before returning to his notebook. I shrugged happily and went into the bunk area. I cleared my throat, making sure my voice was as loud as it could be.

_This here's a tale for all the fellas__  
>Try to do what those ladies tell us<br>Get shot down cause you're over zealous  
>Play hard to get an females get jealous<br>Ok smartie, go to a party  
>Girls are stancin the crowd is showin body<br>A chick walks by you wish you could sex her  
>But you're standin on the wall like you was Poindexter<br>Next days function, high class luncheon  
>Food is served and you're stone cold munchin'<br>Music comes on, people start to dance  
>But then you ate so much you nearly split your pants<br>A girl starts walkin, guys start gawkin'  
>Sits down next to you and starts talkin'<br>Says she wanna dance cus she likes the groove  
>So come on fatso and just bust a move<em>

I was told by Robbie that I had a great 'waking people up' voice, so I thought I could put it to good use. There were a few muffled groans from all around me and I decided I should go a little louder, with a different song.

_I like big butts and I can not lie__  
>You other brothers can't deny<br>That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist  
>And a round thing in your face<br>You get sprung, wanna pull out your tough  
>'Cause you notice that butt was stuffed<br>Deep in the jeans she's wearing  
>I'm hooked and I can't stop staring<br>Oh baby, I wanna get with you  
>And take your picture<br>My homeboys tried to warn me  
>But that butt you got makes me so horny<br>Ooh, Rump-o'-smooth-skin  
>You say you wanna get in my Benz?<br>Well, use me, use me  
>'Cause you ain't that average groupie<br>I've seen them dancin'  
>To hell with romancin'<br>She's sweat, wet,  
>Got it goin' like a turbo 'Vette -<em>

What? Lola and I had made a dance up to this in seventh grade, and since then the song was forever imbedded in my mind, resulting in knowing the lyrics off by heart. Just as I was about to launch into the next line, someone grabbed me from behind putting their hand over my mouth. I tried to lick it repeatedly, but they wouldn't let go. I struggled around the arms that grabbed me, but when I realised it was Zack, I knew I had no such luck of even attempting to escape.

'Okay, I got her.' He said victoriously, swinging me over his shoulder effortlessly and carrying me back to my bunk. Rian stuck his head out of his bunk curtain, his eyes half closed as he assessed the situation, of me on Zack's back, deemed it normal enough to let go, and shut his curtains back over. Dick.

Apparently, my singing had done nothing to wake anyone up. How could they sleep through that? My voice could be loud, really loud. So, being the bitch that I am, I just screamed at Zack.

'Zackary Steven Merrick, put me the fuck down before I kick you in the balls.' I screamed, waking Evan and Vinny up, who both looked out of their bunks with confused and tired expressions on their faces. When they saw Zack carrying a flailing me back to their bunk they started laughing, and I flipped them off from my upside down position.

I kept kicking my legs, trying to get at least _some _bruises in with my muscled calves. I sound cocky, but really Pointe does that to your legs. My legs were the one thing I never felt insecure about, because of the way ballet had shaped them.

Zack didn't respond, just continued walking the short distance to my bunk, and when he reached it, plopped me in. face first. I sat up quickly, blowing my hair out of my face, and aimed my leg at Zack's crotch. I was satisfied when I heard him groan, and collapse to the floor.

'And, that's why you don't mess with' I was cut off, as Zack dragged me out of my bunk by the foot and started tickling me. By now, everyone's head was poking out of their bunk with amused smiles on their face, as Zack straddled my waist so I couldn't get away and tickled me repeatedly. Dammit. Now everyone knew my weakness; being ticklish.

Jack's sleepy face poked out, of his curtain and he laughed at my beet red face, as I tried to get away from Zack before I died from lack of air.

'Help!' I wheezed, my face hurting from smiling as Zack kept tickling me. Jack just shook his head devilishly, before screaming something that made me want to kill him.

'SANDWICH!' he yelled, before rolling out of his bunk right on top of Zack and me, causing Zack to buckle from the sudden weight. The breath was knocked out of me as I tried to escape from the weight on top of me.

'Get off, get off!' I wheezed again, 'I can't breathe!'

'You wouldn't be talking if you couldn't breathe,' Zack said matter-of-factly. Smart-ass.

And from there on out, it got worse. Rian rolled out of his bunk and landed on top of Jack, resulting in me nearly dying.

'Holy shit Rian, you need to lose a few pounds.' Jack said in shock, as he felt Rian's full weight.

'Shut the fuck up, Barakitten. Just because you don't know what it's like to have muscle.' Rian retorted.

Before Jack could respond I yelled again, cutting the playful argument short.

'SANDWICH, JESUS. GET OFF, PLEASE!' I screamed, gasping for air. They were mother-fucking heavy, and I was sure I would have a bruise on my ribs from this.

'Stop abusing my sister.' I heard Alex mumble. He still hadn't opened his curtain, and was probably still half-sleeping. He had been one of the only ones not to look out when he heard me screaming. What a great big brother.

'Okay guys, that's enough get off her. You need to be ready to do an interview for Buzznet soon, and you need to have breakfast _and_ get some groceries before then.' Matt stressed, pulling Rian off of the top of Jack.

Slowly but surely, all weight was removed from the top of me, and I was left gasping for breath on the floor of the bunk area.

'I hate you guys.' I moaned, before getting up and going back through to the front lounge.

'Love you too, Ruby Dooby.' I heard Jack shout, with his adorable put on lisp. I rolled my eyes and sat down on the sofa. I looked at Matt who had returned to the laptop, and said in all seriousness.

'Remind me to never ever try and wake them up _again._' I said, Matt looked at me and began laughing.

'Your face! Don't worry, you'll get used to touring with them.' He said, getting up and ruffling my hair. He headed into the bunk area and I vaguely heard him shouting at Alex to move his ass.

I grumbled at his words, and returned to my Spongebob, grabbing my blanket and coffee.

'I dibs first in the queue!' I yelled, getting out of the bus first and heading to catering. Turns out that we wouldn't have to go and get food, Warped had it for us. I hoped it was good shit.

After we were all ready, and starving, Flyzik only had to say one sentence before everyone was scrambling out of the bus, headed towards the catering tent.

I started running to the catering tent, which was clearly labelled with a massive sign saying 'catering.' I heard someone running behind me and turned to see Jack trying to get to catering before me. I laughed, and started running full sprint leaving him behind, and getting to catering way before any of the others.

I walked in, and realised I was surrounded by at least 10 different bands, all spread out in the cafeteria like setting of the tent. I exhaled shakily as I saw A Day to Remember sitting a few tables away from where I was standing. _Oh my god. _I said to myself, and tried to stop myself from screaming and jumping Kevin Skaff. No, I would be calm and go get my food and then fan-girl with Alex when he got here.

As I walked up to the food buffet part, at the opposite end of the tent, I got a lot of stares. Looking around, I realised that I was one of the few girls here. It made me a little anxious, but I would be with All Time Low all of the time anyway, I wouldn't be wandering around on my own.

I got my food, and went to sit down at an empty table, big enough to fit the crew and band all at the one table. I quickly sat down and started eating my bacon sandwiches. It was a relief when I saw Jack at the front of the queue being served, everyone staring was really freaking me the fuck out. I even saw Jeremy from ADTR looking over at me. Did I forget to put my shorts on or something? I checked to make sure all my clothing was in the right order, and when I was sure that nothing was out of place, or wrong, became interested in the bacon sandwich.

When Jack finally came over, sitting down beside me, his plate filled with almost everything they had at the buffet, I hissed quietly at him.

'Is it just me, or is everyone staring at me?' I said, looking at him. He looked all around us, and then turned back to me.

'Everyone's staring.' He said simply, before digging into his scrambled egg.

'Why?' I half-whimpered, it was really quite freaky. Had I done something wrong? He shrugged.

'You're like one of the only girls on tour, and you're pretty hot. They're checking you out.' he said, with a hint of something in his voice. I blushed furiously, butterflies exploding in my stomach.

'Yeah, right.' I said sarcastically.

'Trust me, I'm a man.' He said grimly, before returning to his food. I'd lost my appetite and just pushed my food around until Alex appeared, followed closely by the rest of the crew.

'Hey, everyone's staring at us.' Zack said as he sat down.

'Everyone's staring at Ruby.' Jack corrected, looking round again. I knew that everyone was still looking over at me. I could feel the heat from their stares. I blushed again as everyone at the table turned round to see if what Jack was saying was true.

'Fuck yeah, we've got the hottest girl at Warped.' Vinny said turning back round with a shit-eating grin on his face, earning a whack to the back of the head from Alex.

'Mike Kitlas better stop checking my baby sister out.' Alex growled. Was it possible to go even redder?

'C'mon guys, hurry up I wanna go exploring.' I complained, really I just wanted out of the canteen. I wasn't used to male attention, especially this much.

'I'm done, want me to come with you?' Jack piped up, and I smiled shyly and nodded.

We both got up, and I waved bye to the guys before we quickly tried to get out of the canteen. No such luck, when Ronnie from Escape the Fate blocked our way.

'Hey man!' he said, pulling Jack into a manly hug.

'Hey, I've not seen you in awhile! Where've you been at?' Jack said animatedly, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into his side protectively when he was released from the hug. Holy shittedy fuck, Jack has his arm around my waist.

They exchanged pleasantries for a while, before Ronnie turned to me.

'And who's this beautiful lady?' he said looking at me as if I was a piece of meat. I blushed bright red, but mumbled my name none the less.

'Another Gaskarth? Nice. What age are you?' he asked me, and I cleared my throat speaking a little more clearly this time.

'Just graduated. Dulaney.' I said nodding, and smiling a little. Jack's grip around my waist tightened a little more.

'Dulaney? Really? We got a new merch boy from Dulaney.' He said pointing over to the table where the rest of the Escape the Fate was sitting, with some crew members, and the new merch boy. I took in the merch boys beached blonde hair, his even golden tan and the sparkling blue eyes that were taking in my appearance. Ross.

I grabbed Jack's hand tightly, so as not to jump over the tables and wipe the smug grin off of his face. What the fuck was he doing here? I knew that Escape the Fate was his favourite band, but why was he here, at Warped? The little fuck. Looking at him made me feel physically sick.

'Ross Savoy?' Jack said sharply, looking over, and letting me squeeze the death out of his hand.

'Yup, nice kid. Genuine.' He said, and I snorted.

'Don't let that fool you.' I said humourlessly. Jack quickly said goodbye to the singer, and we headed outside. There were some fans already milling about, hoping to catch glimpses of their favourite artists. Of course, they couldn't get into this area so Jack and I were free to sit where-ever we wanted.

'If you're gonna hit something, don't aim for me. I have delicate bones.' Jack said, warily, as we sat down. I laughed and threw my head back.

'What's he doing here Jack-o?' I asked pathetically. I didn't want him to be here, I didn't want him near me. He gave me a bad feeling.

'I don't know Rubs.' He said, sighing. 'Hey, don't be sad.' He said pouting at me, when he saw the grimace on my face. 'We can have just as much fun as we would have had without him here. Right?' He said, nudging my shoulder with his. 'Right?' He said again when I didn't reply. I nodded silently.

'Now, let me see the smile that I love.' He cooed, trying to make me smile by pushing the ends of my lips up with his large fingers. I tried to resist smiling, but the expression on his face made me, 'There we go!' he shouted, causing some techs and band members to look over at us curiously.

'Thanks for making me feel better Jacky.' I said, giving him a side hug.

'It's cool.' He replied, laughing a little.

We talked for a little while longer, before we saw the rest of All Time Low file out of the Catering Tent.

'Groceries!' Matt said, and led us to a small van that Warped had lent the bands.

**I'm sorry if there's any spelling mistakes, or weird not making sense sentences, I haven't checked it over I just wanted to put it out. So, whatcha think? A LIL BIT OF DRAMA. Did anyone notice that something was missing? Tell me if you did. I don't mean to sound pushy with the comments, but it just gives me so much more enthusiasm about writing another chapter. SO PLEASE COMMENT AND SUBSCRIBE!**


	9. The Colour Purple

Chapter Nine

'We've got enough food to feed the five thousand!' I exclaimed, as I helped the rest of the band and crew unpack the food into the various cupboards in the make-shift kitchen.

'What do you expect? 12 boys on a bus for a month, we gotta have enough food.' Jeff said, handing me jars and packets from the bag he was unpacking. I sighed. This was only for the first week and the cupboards were bulging with food. I would hate to see a two week shopping list.

Jack was skipping happily in and out of the kitchen, playing with one of toys in his Twinkies packet, and annoying Matt by asking endless questions. He was such a child sometimes. It felt as if I was older than him, even though there was a three year age gap between us. Well, I was quite mature for my age, when I wanted to be.

'Matt, Matt, Matt.' Jack said repeatedly, tapping Matt's shoulder as he leaned over the fridge trying to pack the food in and still be able to shut the fridge door.

'What, Jack?' he asked tiredly, looking up at Jack's wide eyes and little smile.

'Will I have time to shower before the interview?' he asked eagerly. Matt looked at his watch before nodding.

'Just be quick, no time to get rid of boners.' Matt said sniggering, and Jack rolled his eyes still smiling and skipped into the bathroom.

'I swear the most talked about thing on this bus is boners and it's the first day.' I said exasperatedly, finishing up my cupboard. 'Done!' I yelled, before walking over to the sofa where Alex was fiddling with his phone.

'Whatcha doing, brother bear?' I asked, leaning on his shoulder.

'Texting Lisa.' He said, finishing up on his phone and resting his head on top if mine.

'How's the first day of Warped been for ya?' he asked, and I rolled my eyes.

'It's hardly even started Alex, we've been to the super-market and the catering tent, there's still so much to come!' I said, laughing a little. He laughed with me.

'Coming to watch our set?' he asked, and I nodded.

'And then I want to check out A Day to Remember.' I said yawning a little. 'But you've still to do this interview thingy with Buzznet so I guess I'll stay here until you're done.' I finished a slight anxious edge to my voice. I didn't really want to wander around on my own now, the staring at the catering tent had really freaked me out. I hated being stared at. And Ross was here too, and I knew if I bumped into him and he said something to me I would do something stupid. It would be better to stick around All Time Low, for just now at least.

'The interviews in about half an hour wanna put a movie on until then?' He asked, looking down at me. I nodded again smiling. 'What movie?' he asked, already knowing the answer to his question.

'Finding Nemo.' I said a massive grin on my face. He sighed, and pulled a face.

'Go get it then.' He said resignedly, and I jumped up and ran to my bunk. Ever since the movie had came out when I was 12 I had been obsessed with it. Alex had been forced to watch it with me too many times. I however, still loved it. It was my favourite movie of all time.

I grabbed it from my bag and took my pillow too going back through to the main lounge. Everyone had finished unpacking the groceries and were scattered around the bus. I could hear a guitar from the back lounge and guessed Zack was practising. Matt was on his Macbook, and Jeff, Vinny, Evan, Ian, Greico and Colussy were gathered around the kitchen table, dealing cards for a game of poker. I guess Rian was on the phone to Kara or something, he was no-where to be seen.

Alex and I were the only ones watching the movie, and it was kinda nice to spend some quality time with my brother.

I stretched out on one couch, and Alex lay down on the other yawning. Guess we were both tired.

The movie started, and we were just at the part were Nemo touched the boat when Jack emerged from the bunk area. He smiled at me before walking over to Alex's couch and landing on top of him.

'Jack, fuck off.' Alex groaned, shoving Jack off of him and onto the floor. Immediately, Jack jumped back up and fell on top of him again. It continued for two more minutes, before Alex finally got sick of him and moved over to let him sit down. I giggled at their antics and turned back to Finding Nemo losing myself in the adventures of Dory and Marlin.

'Okay guys, clear out we need space for the interview.' Matt announced, and begrudgingly I turned off Finding Nemo, trying to memorise what part I was at so I could watch the rest of the film later on.

The rest of the crew and I moved out of the bus, and into the heat of New Jersey.

Immediately, I pulled out my phone and dialled Lola's familiar number.

'Hello?' she asked sleepily.

'Lola Rose Roberts, it's three in the afternoon, are you still sleeping?' I asked, feigning shock, I knew Lola could sleep for days, and still be able to sleep some more.

'What? I had to take the dog a walk this morning at fucking ten. So I went back to bed. And can you not yell? I've got a really bad hangover.' She groaned, and I sniggered.

'Who were you out with?' I asked, talking a little louder than usual just to annoy her.

'I went over to Robbie's with Sara, Paula and Annie. His parents are gone for the weekend. Too much tequila.' She complained, and I laughed lightly. I could imagine the night. Sara would be loud, dancing on tables, Paula puking in the bathroom, Annie having drank so much she reached the emotional stage, and would be crying while Robbie and Lola would be in fits of laughter on the floor. Just a normal night.

'Nice. You'll never guess what's happened here.' I said grimly.

'What? Gossip? Is it good?' she asked, and I heard something falling. 'Shit.' She said, and I heard her moving around. I waited for her to sit down, knowing she wouldn't full take in what I was saying until her attention was fully on me. Years of phone-calls had taught me this.

'Okay, go.' She said as the rustling from the other end of the phone stopped.

'Ross's here.' I said simply.

'Say that again?' Lola said shocked.

'Ross's here.' I repeated.

'What the fuck? Why's he there? The ignorant little asshole.' She fumed, as I sat down on the dusty ground leaning against the tour bus.

'I don't know Lo. I'm pretty sure I never told him I'd be here. Maybe he's just here for a summer job like most people would be.' I reasoned, 'I'm still mad. I feel as if I can't be myself now that he's here. He ruins everything.' I huffed. Lola sighed with me and we put the topic behind us, moving onto some other silly topic. She demanded details on everything that had happened today, even though most of it had been boring.

'They were totally checking you out!' She gushed when I told her about the canteen incident. 'I'm so fucking jealous. Why can't I be there to convince Kenneth Nixon to fuck me?' she said sadly, and I could almost see the pout that would be on her face. I laughed.

'Lola, they were not checking me out. I think it's because I'm the only girl apart from some of the band members.' I said, explaining my theory. I wasn't that special to look at.

'Ruby, shut up. They were checking you out.' she said matter-of-factly even though she hadn't even been there. I rolled my eyes at her stubbornness. She wouldn't let up on that, even if she knew she was wrong. I let it go, and continued on with our conversation, talking for a good twenty minutes before Lola had to go. I hung up the phone, missing my best friend more than ever. Talking over the phone wasn't the same as being face-to-face.

I stayed at the side of the bus after Lola had hung up, just kicking stones about. I considered phoning my mom and telling her that we'd arrived safely at the venue, but I knew then she would expect calls every day and the price to phone the U.K was a little to high for everyday phone-calls. So I just sun-bathed in the heat, trying to soak up as much sun as I could. My pale skin was in need of a tan, even it was just a slight one.

I heard footsteps approaching me and quickly opened my eyes, gritting my teeth when I saw who it was.

'What are you doing here?' I said rudely, glaring at him.

'I was just looking around the buses, and saw you here looking all lonely. Thought I could keep you company.' Ross said, smiling happily and sitting down beside me. I stood up immediately dusting myself off.

'Well, I don't want you keeping me company. Frankly, I don't want you anywhere near me.' I said venom in my voice.

'Aw, c'mon you're not still going on about that, are you? It's been forever, I thought you'd be over it by now.' He said dismissively, standing up too

'It was a month and a half ago, Ross.' I said angrily.

'You counted? Ooh, someone's missing me.' he said, grinning evilly at me.

'Ross, just fuck off please. Why are you even here?' I asked, trying to get round him but he blocked me with his 6ft frame.

'I want you back, Ruby.' He said, looking deep into my eyes. 'I miss you, I made a mistake. I don't know why I went with Jennifer; all I want is you baby.' A shiver went down my spine as I processed what he said.

'Don't call me baby.' I said slowly, stepping back from him. I tried to get round him, but he wasn't having any of it, grabbing my hand tightly.

'Let go of me!' I said, writhing to get out of his firm grip.

'No,' he stated. 'Not until you hear me out.'

'I've heard it all before Ross. You're sorry, you made a mistake. You didn't mean it.' I said loudly, 'I'm sick of all your shit. I don't want you Ross. What's it gonna take to get that through your thick skull.' I yelled. His eyes darkened and his nostrils flared.

Just then, Zack rounded the corner and saw the scene in-front of him.

'Hey!' he yelled, starting towards Ross and me.

'This isn't over Ruby; someone can't be around to protect you all time.' Ross muttered in my ear. Fear gripped me as I realised the double meaning to his words. He let me go, and stalked off leaving me shaking slightly.

Zack ran over to me, and looked at me concernedly.

'Are you okay? What did he do to you?' he asked seriously, giving me a massive hug. I held in my tears and shook my head.

'Nothing, nothing its fine.' I said, putting a fake smile on my face. Zack raised an eyebrow at me, obviously not buying it. 'Honestly, he just wanted to talk and I wouldn't listen so he grabbed my hand and wouldn't let me go until I listened. It's fine. No big deal.' My smile was getting harder to keep in place, I just wanted to cry.

'Are you sure?' he asked, putting his hands on my shoulders, making me look him in the eye. I nodded my head, and put on a fake pretence.

I don't know how he swallowed the shaky lie, but he did. Nodding, and putting his arm around my shoulder he took me round to the front of the bus where the crew had begun unpacking the equipment for tonight.

'I just came round to tell you that we're gonna start taking the gear over to the stage. Coming with?' he asked, and I nodded again. I was afraid if I spoke, my voice would break. 'Good,' he said smiling at me. Zack turned to leave me as Alex skipped towards us. I grabbed Zack's bicep quickly, tugging at him to turn around.

'Zack, please don't mention what happened back there to Alex.' I said quickly, when he did turn round. A puzzled look appeared on his face.

'Why?' he asked curiously.

'He'll just over-react; I don't want him worrying about it.' I said simply. It was best if I could just keep this between Zack and I. I knew the only person Zack would tell if he was concerned was Alex, so if I told him not to tell hopefully he wouldn't. He grimaced at me, shaking his head.

'Okay, but I don't like this Ruby.' He said looking at me straight in the eye, I knew then that he knew something more had went down. My pretence faltered slightly, but I smiled at him gratefully.

'Thanks Zack.' I said hugging him, and pecking him on the cheek. Hopefully this would keep the whole incident under wraps.

A massive bang echoed around the bus and I jumped out of my skin. Turning round, I saw that Jack had dropped an electric guitar.

'Jesus Jack.' I said, clutching my now racing heart.

'Be careful!' Danny cried at Jack as he looked sheepishly at me.

'Sorry,' Jack said so quietly, I almost never caught it. He picked his guitar up, and continued on his way to the stage.

'Hey, where did you disappear to?' Alex asked, bounding up to me juggling two guitars in his arms. I shrugged.

'I was just round the back of the bus, Lola phoned.' I said. I wasn't really lying…I was just leaving out some information.

'Cool. Can you take one of these guitars?' he asked, when he nearly dropped one. I nodded, smiling slightly.

The one I grabbed had a card with 'HERPES' cello-taped on the back and I chuckled.

'Jacks?' I asked, strumming the chords.

'Who else?' Alex said as we walked to the venue.

'Hey, I haven't heard you play in a while. Got any new material?' he asked curiously. Alex had taught me how to play the guitar when I was 14, and he used to constantly bug me to write my own material. I had written quite a few pieces now, but not in a while. Apart from the one I had started a few weeks back.

'I've not really been focusing on writing recently. Too much shit.' I said, playing a little bit of Blink 182 – All the Small Things on Jack's purple guitar.

'You should, some of the stuff you write is better than what's on our albums.' He chuckled, and I blushed slightly at the compliment.

'Hardly,' I said, rolling my eyes. We continued the rest of the journey in content silence, sometimes playing chords back and forth to one another. I tried hard not to think about Ross and the whole situation. I wanted to tell Alex or someone and let them tell me everything would be okay. But, I couldn't nothing good would come out of it.

Finally when we reached the stage, I was sweating.

'Holy fuck, that was hard.' I panted as I climbed up the small flights of stairs leading to the side-stage. Alex was practically dying behind me, his breath coming in sharp gasps.

'Jesus fucking Christ Matt, why did we have to carry everything over here?' he asked the manager, as he placed the guitar in its stand that Danny or Ian had brought over. I did the same, and leant on one of the amps wiping the slight sweat from my face.

'The venue didn't have enough trolleys to spare.' Matt said apologetically, and Alex huffed. I watched the rest of the crew members filing in, each with sweat pouring out of them.

'This is the shittest venue yet.' Rian complained, finally coming in carrying an amp. He dropped it immediately, and collapsed on top of it.

The crew began preparing for the show, as Jack, Alex, Zack and Rian were hooked up with sound systems, and their instruments were plugged into the speakers. The crowd outside screamed excitedly as members of the crew appeared on stage checking everything, and making sure nothing was wrong. Happy with everything, Matt signalled to the boys to go on stage, and I yelled a good luck, earning a smile from Jack and Rian. Alex and Zack never heard.

I curled my legs up on the amp I was sitting on, swaying to the opening song; Lost in Stereo.

The boys immediately began jumping around like maniacs, head-banging, jumping on the amps at the front of the stage, everything they could to get the crowd going. I could see girls pushed up against the barrier, singing their hearts out with Alex. I could see the grin on his face. I knew this was his favourite part. It was all the boys' favourite part.

I could see Jack throwing guitar picks into the crowd, and girls screaming insanely when he looked at them. It made me chuckle, watching it from this perspective. I was like that, when I went to concerts. I remember when I went to NeverShoutNever's concert, Annie, Lola and I had driven for four hours to get there, and we got barrier. Christofer Drew had held my hand and took one of my bracelets during the show, and I can remember crying tears of happiness. I guess I knew how the fans felt. It was one of the best feelings in the world; catching a guitar pick and having your favourite member notice you.

I sang along to the whole set, losing myself in the music so that my mind wouldn't wander to places I didn't want it to go. It was so easy doing this, avoiding my problems and living in the moment. Nothing hurt and everything was good. Sooner than I hoped, the set was over and the boys were running off stage, sweat dripping from their bodies. Jack ran towards me and picked me up, pressing me against his sweaty body.

'Ew!' I squealed as he spun me round. Making sure I was covered in his sweat.

'You stink.' I complained, but chuckled and hugged him back. I didn't really mind if he smelled; I still got to hug him.

We broke apart, and started to help everyone dismantle the gear, and get everything packed up to take back to the bus. I grabbed one of the guitars again, asking anyone if I could help anymore. They all shook their heads, telling me just to head back to the bus, obviously thinking I couldn't handle holding any of the heavier objects. I huffed, and started walking back slowly, wary of my surroundings. Ross's words echoed in my head, and I picked up my pace, not wanting to run into him.

I reached the bus, with shaking hands. I hadn't run into him, but I was fucking scared at the effect he had on me, with just a threat. Probably an empty one, but a threat none the less. He had never threatened me in my life before, and the way he said it…

I flinched violently when Jack and Zack bounded through the door with their guitars. I was getting anxious at such small things, and this was only the first day. I had to cope for another month with Ross. This tour was turning into hell already.

I put Jack's guitar in the back lounge, and returned to the living area, plopping down on the couch. Absentmindedly I started gnawing at my nails, zoning out as the crew collapsed around me, exhausted with the days work.

'What time's it?' I asked distractedly, talking to anyone that was listening.

'Er, it's half nine.' Greico told me, flicking the television onto the sports. His team were playing or something, I was only half listening.

'I have pizza!' Matt yelled, coming through into the lounge with four massive pizza boxes. We never really had any cooking appliances like ovens on the bus, so we would have to either eat out, or go to catering if the venue provided us with it. And still, the boys had managed to fill every single cupboard with food.

'Fuck yeah!' Jack yelled, grabbing a box from Matt and opening it up. 'Mmmm, pepperoni!' he said excitedly, smiling widely. He set it down on the counter, and everyone crowded around him, all trying to get it a bit at once.

I waited until the hustle and bustle had settled down before going up to get mine. There was only like two pieces left, but I didn't mind. I wasn't hungry. I took a piece and collapsed in the only seat left, next to Rian and Evan.

I only nibbled at my pizza, eventually just giving it to one of the boys who were still starving. I could see Alex looking at me with concerned eyes, but I just smiled slightly at him hoping to reassure him that nothing was wrong.

'Hey, are you okay? I thought you wanted to check out A Day to Remember after our set?' Rian asked me, looking at me concernedly. I faked a smile.

'I totally forgot about that!' I said truthfully, rubbing my head. 'Yeah I'm fine, just feeling a little off.' I lied, getting up from my seat. 'I'm gonna head to my bed and try and get some sleep, hopefully feel better in the morning.' I said, grimacing at him.

'Okay, you know where I am if you need me.' he said, smiling his bright smile. 'Night Ruby.' He told me, and I bid him goodnight, turning to face the rest of the room.

'I'm gonna head to bed guys, I'm not feeling so great.' I told them, heading over to Alex and giving him a hug.

'Are you okay?' he whispered in my ear when I bent down to hug him,

'Fine.' I lied, hugging him tightly.

'Feel better Ruby.' Jeff said and I smiled at him.

'Aw Ruby, don't leave me with these losers!' Jack pouted at me, giving me his puppy dog eyes. The rest of the room turned to raise their eyebrows at him, and he shrugged. 'What? She's cooler than all of you put together.' He stated. I chuckled at him.

'Night Jacko.' I smiled, well the closest thing to a smile I could muster.

Goodnights echoed around the room and just before I headed into the bunk area, Matt yelled at me.

'If you're gonna be sick, try and aim inside the bathroom.' He pleaded, and I saluted him. Before I left, my eyes locked with Zack's and he looked at me with concern burning in his eyes. I was sure he thought I was upset because of the Ross incident. If he did, he was right.

I collected my things from my bunk and headed to the bathroom to get changed. Once into my pyjamas I took my make-up off, and all of my jewellery.

As I brushed my teeth dutifully, my gaze fell to my left hand. The one Ross had grabbed. A large, blotchy purple mark in the shape of fingers surrounded my wrist. A bruise. That Ross had given me. I hadn't even realised how tightly he had been holding my wrist, but it must have been really fucking tight to leave a mark like that. Tears welled in my eyes and I shook violently, finishing my teeth.

Before I left the bathroom, I slipped some of my wristbands on to hide the bruise. If Alex or anyone else saw it and found out, they would kill him. I made a bee-line for my bunk, and jumped in, pulling the curtain over tightly and getting under the covers. Shivers wracked my body as the scene played over and over in my mind.

For the first time in my life, I was actually scared of Ross and what he might do to me. Never, in our relationship had he raised a hand to me, or left a mark on me. We had rarely fought, so I had hardly ever seen him angry. But what he had done today left me feeling scared and feeble. I had thought of myself as quite strong, but today had proved that I wasn't strong at all.

His threat kept repeating itself in my mind, and I finally let the tears I had been holding in all day fall silently on my pillow. Time passed, I don't know how much but soon everyone was heading to bed. I heard a few people shushing each other, mostly up my end as they tried to get into bed. I appreciated their efforts, but even if I had been sleeping it would still have woken me up.

The tears ended a while after everyone was in bed, and snores had started to erupt from Zack's bunk. They were followed by anger. How dare he leave a mark on me? How dare he have the nerve to say him cheating wasn't a big deal? How dare he? I punched my pillow and frowned at the ceiling. I stayed like that for a long time. I just thought everything over. He seemed as though he could get into my mind, he fucked with my head. He had back before we dated, but then it had been something of a turn on. Now it was just really fucking infuriating. He knew how to push my buttons; he knew how to make me react.

A little while later, my phone began to vibrate. I knew who it was. I accepted the call and pressed the phone to my ear, staying silent. They hung up. This whole thing was beginning to get really fucking annoying, if not a little creepy. Who wanted to contact me this much? But when they reached me, wouldn't even speak? I huffed and turned over.

Ross's facial expression when I told him I didn't want him seemed to be painted on the inside of my eyelids as I tried to sleep, wishing the day was a nightmare.

**IT'S BEEN A WHILE. Okay, I am super sorry for the massive wait. (This will be a long authors notes til I explain myself) Well, first off I got an iPhone for my birthday, just as my laptop broke! Anyway, anyone that has an ipod touch/iPhone knows how difficult it is to type stuff up on that, and honestly I couldn't be bothered typing the rest of this chapter up. It was saved onto my laptop like two months ago, but because it was on my laptop I couldn't access it. Anyway, here ya go. Gonna have a little go at writing the next one, but I hope you enjoyed the twist. **

**And guys, I'm on if that's easier for anyone. I've confirmed hiatus on there, but I am starting this story back up! Thank you to the lovely commenters, you've made me realise that I can't let down the people reading this story xoxo.**


	10. Make Me Numb

**Hey guys, I'm baaaaaaack. Lots on drama in store, heartbreak, relationships and things you wouldn't suspect. IT'S GONNA BE AMAZING. This is my first chapter back from hiatus, and as you probably know, while I was on hiatus, Alex confirmed on his Twitter that his brother's real name was Tom. Out of respect for Alex, I'm going to keep the fake name 'Daniel' and I won't be going in to any detail about how he committed suicide. You can think that up yourselves. I hope you know where I'm coming from with this. Anyway, enjoy the first chapter! I've finished writing the story, so there will be an update every three days. Look out for a sequel too…**

Chapter 10.

'How should I wake her up?' I heard someone whisper yell outside my bunk. I opened one of my eyes blearily, and saw the darkness of my bunk. The blackout curtain was still drawn, and my bed was deliciously warm, my duvet wrapped around my arms and legs cosily. I shut my eyes again quickly, burrowing down into my covers and trying to get back to sleep. The voice outside my bunk wouldn't let me though. 'What?' they yelled a little louder and I glared at them through the curtain. If I had the energy, I would say something, but right now all I wanted to do was sleep.

I heard heavy footsteps walking up to my bunk and a sigh, before my curtain was pulled over and bright light invaded my nest. I groaned out loud, and turned around to face the wall squeezing my eyes shut to keep the light out, and pulling my cover over my head.

'Ruby, get the fuck up!' Alex yelled at me, and I moaned burrowing my head down even further into the soft duvet. I could tell that it was still night-time, or really early morning, meaning I had only been asleep for a few hours at the most. I wanted more than anything to fall back into the deep dreamless sleep that I had been having before I was rudely awakened. Suddenly, my duvet was pulled away from me, and I was left shivering in my pyjamas.

'Alex, you douche!' I moaned, curling my arms over my legs and sitting up, blinking my eyes rapidly to try and get used to the bright light emitting from the ceiling lamp. 'Why do I need to get up? It's so early.' I complained. I saw Matt standing slightly behind him, and I guess he'd been the one whisper-shouting outside my bunk. He gave me a quick smile, before moving on to check the beds.

I looked around and realised that most of the bunks were empty, the curtains open and the sheets tangled at the foot of the mattress. My gaze flickered to my left hand, and I readjusted my bracelets paranoid that Alex might see the bruise Ross had left.

In most situations, my response was to forget about it. To let it go, and move on. Of course, I had broken the rule a few times, Ross cheating being the biggest exception. But my brain didn't know how to handle this one. How was I supposed to act normally, when the person that I thought had loved me, wanted to hurt me? Had already hurt me, emotionally and physically? I knew that I should tell someone that would be able to sort it out easily, like Matt or Danny. I knew I should avoid telling the members of the band. Every single one of them would go ape-shit, and track him down before brutally murdering him.

So, I decided to shut it out. One of the most cowardly decisions I have ever made. I would forget what had happened, and move on with my every-day life on Warped Tour. I would forget about Ross and the bruise, and focus on this. Touring with All Time Low.

'We're at services. This is the only stop we get until we reach the venue so I figured you'd want to freshen up.' He told me, and ruffled my hair. I groaned at him and punched him in the gut softly. He gave me a smile before walking away. 'Hurry up,' he called over his shoulder. 'Everyone's already in the lounge.' I rolled my eyes and pulled myself out of the comfy bunk, and walked over to my suitcase, shivering.

I picked out the comfiest clothes I could find, and went into the bathroom to change. Being the only girl, getting naked in the middle of the bus was a much bigger deal than the rest of the guys doing it. And I seriously doubted that Alex would be happy about me stripping off in-front of his friends and work-mates.

Once I was changed, and had managed to bump into the semi-permanent wall when the bus stopped suddenly, I clamoured out of the bathroom, pulling my left hoodie sleeve down anxiously as I entered the silent front lounge.

Everyone was puffy eyed and sleepy, jammed onto the couches and tables as they awaited Matt to tell them what was going on. I noticed that Zack had an odd pair of socks on as he yawned widely, ruffling his crazy half-afro morning hair. Greico was falling asleep sitting at the table, leaning on his hand, his mouth open slightly. I slipped into a seat and rested my head on Vinny's shoulder, keeping my eyes half open. Matt seemed to be the only one fully awake, as he stood in the middle of the room, a mickey mouse tee on with a zipper.

'Okay guys, we've got a long journey ahead today. 12 hours on the bus before we arrive at Virginia Beach.' Groans sounded around the room at Matt's words and he grimaced with us. 'This is the only stop we're getting so I suggest you get everything you need. It'd be good if you got breakfast too. I'll give you an hour and a half, but you know the drill, if you're not back on time, the ass is left behind.' He finished up, and smiled.

Everyone got up slowly from their seats, and shuffled slowly off the bus, some returning to get wallets. As I was on my way out the door, I spotted a grey LA hat lying on the table. Thinking of the state of my hair, I shoved it on and followed the rest of the guys out into the cold air.

The sun was just coming up, and the sky was a reddish blue tinge, mixed in with the dark blue of the night. A few fans were clustered outside, and the boys signed autographs sleepily. It was dedication if fans were out at four in the morning to meet them. Pure dedication. I saw their moms hovering in the background and laughed, it reminded me of when I would get lifts home from concerts from my mom and she would totally cramp my style and come and get me when I was trying to get my ticket signed by a band member.

I walked into the services building with my hood pulled over my hat and disgraceful hair, my eyes eager to find a Starbucks, or somewhere that would provide me with a coffee. I beamed when I saw the familiar sign, and bounced up to the counter.

A small girl was behind the till, yawning profusely as I gave her my order. I gave her a smile, and went to sit down at a booth at the window. She never bothered to give me a number; I was the only one here, so what was the point?

My sudden energy burst at seeing Starbucks faded, and I slumped in my seat, pushing my hood down and taking my phone out of my pocket. There were a few emails, but that was all. I shut my eyes over, and flinched violently when someone spoke loudly.

'Hey! That's my hat!' They said loudly, and I opened my eyes quickly – my mind instantly flashing to Ross and my wrist. Relief filled me when I saw that it was only Jack. I gave him a smile, and he slid into the booth beside me rubbing his tired eyes and leaning back.

'Man, it's too early.' He moaned, and I chuckled patting his head awkwardly. He flashed me an adorable grin and sat forward. 'So, are you feeling any better?' he asked me, and I looked at him confused.

'What?' I said blankly, my eyes blinking as I tried to remember being "ill". I cottoned on soon after, and cursed myself. 'Oh yeah, yeah I'm fine now. Much better.' I said, putting on my fakest smile. Jack rolled his eyes at me, and my smile faltered a little.

'Ruby, if there's one thing you gotta learn on tour, it's that you can't keep a secret. Everything comes out. So stop lying, I know you weren't ill last night, and so does everyone else. What's up?' my mind flashed at his words, and my breathing picked up the slightest bit. My palms sweated, and I wiped them on my knees, trying to think of something to say. He couldn't find out about this. Nobody could. It would stay between Ross and I. Jack would tell Alex and Alex would kill him. They would all kill him. And it would be my fault. It had to stay a secret.

How was I supposed to come out with it anyway? Oh yeah, my ex-boyfriend basically told me that he was going to hurt me, and while he was at it he left a bruise that's currently throbbing. How was your day Jack? It wasn't exactly a thing for conversation, even ones like these.

After a few seconds of me gaping wordlessly at him, he leaned forwards on his elbow.

'You can trust me y'know. I won't tell anyone. Not even Alex.' I could feel his breath on my face he was that close and I became even more dazed than before. If I had the nerve, I would forward and kiss his soft lips,

'I don't know what you mean Jack.' I said, composing myself and leaning back from him. 'I was ill. That's all. You and everyone else obviously are over-reacting.' I could see the girl that had served me earlier, walking over with a tray filled with food and hot drinks. My stomach grumbled just looking at it, and I was momentarily distracted from my chat with Jack. That wasn't important right now, food was here.

Twenty minutes later, Jack was slamming his hand down on the table, his face filled with frustration.

'God dammit just let me pay the bill Ruby!' he half-yelled and I rolled my eyes at him.

'I am not letting you pay for my breakfast Jack. I'm not unable to buy something for myself. _I__'__m__paying._' I said furiously. I got my purse out quickly and set down $20. Jack growled under his breath and threw it onto the floor, sitting his money on top of the receipt.

The poor waitress was watching us with wide eyes as we shouted at each other.

I took his money and threw it at him, picking mine up from the floor and handing it to the waitress.

'Here, take this.' I said as Jack hissed furiously at me. Childishly, I stuck my tongue out at him as he glared, crossing his arms over his chest.

He got up from his seat and stormed away in a mood.

'Jeez, such a baby.' I rolled my eyes at his antics before grabbing my things and heading out of Starbucks towards a small convenience store, one of those great ones that don't actually sell proper food, just junk.

I had to stock up on sweets. We had been at Warped for a day and already I had realised that 1. The boys ate like animals, 2. They stole food my food, 3. No matter how much food was on the bus, there was hardly any left at the end of the night. Mostly after the boys shows, they would eat everything in-sight and the crew would join them in their feasts as I watched in horror as they all but inhaled the food.

I smiled as a sign of greeting towards the shop-keeper and browsed the aisles, my arms piling up with things as I picked up everything that seemed appetizing to me, which was a lot considering I just had breakfast.

I grabbed a few toiletries too, already feeling gross. The only shower we had was in the bus and because we never spent much time on it while we were at Warped, the only time available to shower was while we were on the road. Nobody likes a moving shower. Nobody.

I dumped my stuff on the counter, grimacing apologetically as the old mans eyes widened.

Three bags of junk food in hand and too much money spent later, I walked out of the shop, an irresistible pull dragging me to the bookshop. There were still 30 minutes left…I had enough time.

I was a sucker for bookstores. I always ended up getting pulled into them and coming out with shiny, smooth, and beautifully smelling new books. I read a lot, maybe too much, but once I started a book, I couldn't put it down.

Unconsciously, my feet had carried me into the shop and I bit my lip as I ran my fingers over the books in-front of me. One caught my eye and I read the blurb quickly. Before I could fathom what I was doing, I was pulling money out of my purse and buying it.

Dammit! I had done it again. Even though I was pissed off with myself for buying yet another book to add to my endless collection, I was still pleased with my purchase. The book looked amazing and I couldn't wait to get lost in the authors make-believe world.

I glanced up as I walked out of the store and saw my brother ambling slowly in-front, his crazy hair everywhere as he ran his hands through it.

'Hey, Gaskank!' I shouted, and he stopped turning around to eye me beadily.

'Y'know, you're a Gaskarth too, which technically means you just called yourself Gaskank.' He said snidely. I just shrugged my shoulders, a grin present.

'No-one would ever call me a skank, you on the other hand…' I trailed off smugly, smiling cutely at him as he rolled his eyes. I skipped towards him, wrapping my tiny arm around his waist and hugging his side.

'How do you have so much energy? It's what? Six in the morning?' he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and looked down at me.

'Well, Alexander I don't actually have a hangover. And I got more than enough sleep last night.' I lied through my teeth about the last part but I figured that would keep him happy. Maybe he wouldn't worry as much about me being "ill" last night.

'Oh yeah, how are you feeling. You look much better.' His eyes appraised me, looking for the slightest indication of lying. I had lived with Alex for too many years for him to know what I was like when I was ill.

Once, I was so stubborn about pretending that I wasn't ill that I went to dinner with my family and ate a three course meal, even though I wanted to spew the whole time. I was sick in the car on the way home, but still. I didn't like being ill, and I didn't like admitting I was wrong.

Although this time, a different lying was taking place. I was lying about _being_ ill. There's a first time for everything I suppose.

'Yeah. I'm feeling much better, it must have just been a little bug or something.' I lied quickly. By the look on his face, I knew he didn't believe me. Jack was right, everyone knew I was faking.

'That's good.' He said smoothly, and we walked to the bus in silence. I was on edge with nerves. Was it really that obvious that I was lying? Did that mean that everyone knew something was wrong, and did that mean that Zack knew I was upset about earlier? My head whirred with unanswered questions as we walked towards the bus.

Tension was thick in the air between Alex and I, and I hated it. I wanted to tell him what had really happened and why I was upset, but I couldn't. It would make everything worse.

I was scared shitless about the whole situation. I knew that Ross's promise wasn't empty, and not knowing what would occur next was putting me on edge. So much so, that everyone was noticing. What would he do to me? And what could I do to prevent it? The only answer I could come up with that wouldn't harm anyone, was to do nothing. So that's what I was going to do. I wouldn't drag anyone else into my messed up situation.

We walked into the bus together, before I went to my bunk to put my food and book away. I smoothed out my blanket and pillow after I had placed my food in a small compartment underneath my bed.

'Fuck!' Alex yelled furiously, and I flinched at the sudden break in the silence.

'What is it?' I shouted back at him, rolling my eyes. He always got wound up about something trivial, something that didn't really matter.

'I forgot to buy marshmallows!' I could practically hear the pout in his voice. 'I'm gonna go buy some.' He told me and I heard the wheeze of the bus door before silence descended on the bus once more.

Alone. A luxury I had longed for even after one day of hectic tour life. I grabbed my book and a packet of Doritos, heading to the front lounge.

There was still 20 minutes until everyone else was due back, plenty of time to get started on my book before chaos filled the bus again.

I screamed and jumped back when I saw Jack sitting on the sofa silently, his eyes focused on the baseball game that was so quiet I could hardly hear it.

His eyes darted in my direction, and his face turned to stone when he saw who it was.

'Jesus, you scared the shit out of me!' I whispered my heart racing as adrenaline pumped through my body. I had thought it was _him_, making good on his promise.

'Sorry.' He said stiffly, his eyes returning to the screen and I rolled my eyes at his antics. He was still pissed about breakfast.

I sat down on the couch beside him and he tensed up immediately. We sat in silence for a few seconds before I broke it with a huff of impatience.

'Seriously? You aren't going to talk to me because I wouldn't let you buy me breakfast?' he nodded his head at me, and annoyance filled me. Dick.

'You're unbelievable. It was only a fucking breakfast Jack.' he ignored me this time, and I huffed opening my book, kicking my shoes off and putting my legs up on the couch.

A few minutes passed and we continued ignoring each other, both of us too stubborn to make the first move.

It was when I reached Chapter 2 that Jack's warm calloused hands grabbed my feet and placed them on his lap. I hid my smile behind my book as the tension broke and Jacks fingers traced the bone in my ankle.

**Short ****but ****sweet. ****If ****I ****get ****enough ****comments, ****I****'****ll ****put ****up ****the ****next ****chapter ****tomorrow****…**


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